Connections
by MidnightNinja611
Summary: Espio has a dream. In this dream, he is in the mind of a girl. The girl's family has been captured by Eggman, and he wants something from the girl in exchange for their freedom. The only problem with Espio's dream is that Eggman should be dead.
1. The Dream

**Author's Notes:**

**1- I do not, in anyway possible, own any of the Sonic Characters. They are owned by Sega. I do, however, own any characters in this ****fanfic**** that are not mentioned in any of the games (ex. Midnight). No ****stealy**

**2- This is my first fan ****fic****, so be nice about the reviews, ya? If you have pointers, they will be accepted, but keep it insult free, ya?**

**3- I luff Espio. Plain and Simple. Oh, btw, it's rated M because it gets pretty adult and descriptive in later chapters. Do not fear, for I will warn you before hand if you feel the need to skip it, just because I luff you. Not as much as Espio, but ****it's**** close**

**4- Last note. This has taken me 3 attempts to get this damn chapter right, so you better like it!**

Chapter I

The Encounter

_I was running hard. The muscles in my legs were screaming with protest, but I didn't dare stop to catch my breath or rest. But what was I running from? With a backpack clutched in my left fist, another bag slung over my right shoulder, and a sword shifting about restlessly in its sheath, I continued to run, no longer thinking logically, just following my instincts. But where in the hell was I planning on going? Where am I now?_

_Glancing over my shoulder now, there were flames rising from a house, probably mine, and large, rounded robots came pouring around it, all locked onto me and hot on my trail. Floating overhead was a large man in some sort of machine. How the hell am I supposed to out run that? Forgetting to look ahead, a root that poked it way from the earth caught my foot, causing me to crash face first into the dirt. The man laughed manically and drew closer, now exiting the machine to stand over me._

_"You have no where to run." He sneered as he smirked down at me, bending down to be nearly level with my face. His breath was putrid, to the point that I was about ready to gag, and the flames behind us reflected from the dark tinted glasses that covered his eyes. "Tell me, Midnight, what are you going to do?" He asked, knowing I had no options. But wait a minute… My name isn't Midnight…_

_"What do you want from me?" I said. It wasn't my voice though. It was female, ringing loudly over the crackling flames that were now being doused. I glanced quickly to where the flames were coming from, and now, where they were standing was a pile of rubbish. My heart sank. My house was gone. "What did my family…? No, what did I do?"_

_It was all the man standing over me could do but fall over laughing. He threw his head back and his body shook with laughter, and for a moment, I had a chance to slice at his exposed throat with my blade. But as though he could read my thoughts, he looked back __down at me. He bent down to be level with me again, and opened his mouth to say something when…_

"Espio! Espio, wake up!" Vector was gripping my shoulders and shaking me gently, just enough to snap me back to reality. I shook my head a little, trying to figure out what just happened, and sat up. I was in my room, in my bed, in the Team Chaotix "Headquarters". I put a hand to my forehead, which was throbbing madly. "Jesus, Espio, you scared me half to death! You were moaning and tossing about in your sleep, and I almost thought you were possessed or something!" Vector looked truly worried, and Charmy, who hovered right over his shoulder, was watching me, confused.

"I… I was?" I could finally find my own voice, which was still deep. So, I was back in my own head again. But whose head was I in just a few minutes ago? I closed my eyes, recollecting the dream like a faint memory. That man that stood over that girl. It was Eggman, no doubt. But what was he up to? Whose life was he set out to destroy now? "Eggman…" I said softly, mostly to myself, but they heard.

"What? What? What about Eggman? Was he in your dream?" Charmy was buzzing about, unable to stay still, like usual. "From the looks of it and the sounds you were making, I think he was killing you!" He smiled good-naturedly and laughed, while Vector smacked his forehead. "That's a good way to make him feel better, Charmy…" He muttered under his breath.

"No… He wasn't attacking or killing anyone. He was just talking to me face-to-face… But it wasn't really me and… Ugh!" I threw my hands down from my forehead. This was difficult to explain, but I tried again. "I was in someone else's head… A girl named Midnight… He burned her house down and probably killed or captured her family. And I felt everything she felt and…" I sighed and gave up, deciding that I might as well figure this out before I tried to help someone else understand it.

"Espio…" Vector began slowly, "Eggman was killed, or nearly killed, by Shadow when he found out he was a clone created by Eggman (1). He couldn't have done anything from his grave or the hospital…" As he said this, I realized how dumb I was sounding. Vector looked even more worried, like I was going insane and was about to kill myself, and Charmy had actually stopped buzzing around for a moment to think.

"I know that…" I said softly, leaning back and closing my eyes. Again, the fear that Midnight had felt washed over me, and I sighed. "But it was just so real." I shook my head and looked at each of them with a dismissive look. I need a moment to gather myself before I said anything else. Vector nodded and dragged Charmy out of the room, leaving me to think this over.

"So…" I said to myself, assessing the little facts I had. "Eggman has killed or captured a family, and the alleged survivor's name is Midnight." I groaned and threw my head back, slamming it against the wall. I was completely numb to the pain, the only pain I felt was the throbbing my temples. "Why did Vector have to wake me up before I found out what his cause was?" I sighed softly and shook my head, kicking my legs over the side of bed and standing. Throwing on a pair of baggy jeans and a white men's tank top, I walked out, deciding to ignore the problem unless it came up again.

I must have looked like hell itself as I came into the living room, where Amy, Sonic, Shadow, and Tails was, because as I entered, all their smiles vanished, and they all looked worried. "Espio, you okay?" I could tell the voice belongs to Tails, the orange-ish fox that was always sitting in Sonic's shadow. But lately, with all the complicated inventions he has been crafting up, he could easily surpass Sonic whenever he wished it.

"Yeah… I'm fine." I didn't sound very sure, probably because I wasn't. That dream was so real, it was like I left my own body to join someone else's. Just for that moment. I scratched the back of my neck as I glanced from face to face, the worry not fading even slightly. Finally, Shadow grew tired of staring at me and snorted, "If the guy said he's fine, stop staring at 'em like he's some freak out of a circus!" His voice was quiet, yet clearly heard by everyone, because they all nodded and went back to talking to each other, occasionally turning to look at me. I sunk into a chair and watched as they talked, not feeling up to putting in my own two cents. Actually, I didn't feel like doing anything but going back to bed with the hopes of seeing more of that girl's life unfolding more, but I knew that wasn't going to happen.

"…so I've installed some security cameras and things like that around the area, so you don't have to worry about any more intruders coming without you knowing, Vector." That was Tails speaking, I knew, even though my eyes were closed and I was hardly focusing. Vector thanked him after that, and all fell silent. Opening one eye, I could see they were all staring at me again, and I began to grow agitated. It was like I was on display.

"What are you staring at?" I growled, sitting upright and glaring at each person, stiff with anger. Everyone looked away as they met my gaze, knowing it wasn't right to stare to begin with, and finally, Amy spoke in everyone's defense. "We're just worried about you, Espio; you aren't acting like yourself…" What she said made me think for a moment. That was probably true, because I didn't feel like myself either. I felt like I was still stuck between my own life and Midnight's. I sighed and shook my head. "Don't worry about it. It's my problem, not yours." And with that, everything fell silent again, and I sank back in the chair.

**(1)- I'm basing this off the Shadow ****The**** Hedgehog game. One of the endings is that Shadow finds out that he is a clone of the real Shadow, the ultimate being (or something like that), and kills (or attempts to) Eggman. ****Kk**


	2. The Encounter

**Author's Notes-**

**1-****I do not, in any way, own the Sonic Characters. Any characters that are not referred to in the games (ex. Midnight), however, are mine! No stealing!**

**2- ****Once again, this is my first fanfic, so be nice when you're reviewing. If you ever do.**

**3- ****Nothing bad is in here. I don't even think I used any curse words. Oh wait, Midnight said damn.**

**4- ****Oh, btw, I forgot to mention, Midnight is none other than… Me! He-he! I'm so awesome!**

**Enjoy (and review)!**

Chapter 2

The Encounter

It had been three days since I got the first dream, and no others came. Every morning I'd wake up angry, and every night I'd fall asleep with high hopes of seeing it again. I just need to piece it together. Just so I can find peace with myself. No luck. It was like she was gone. Maybe she never existed. Maybe I was just going crazy.

Entering the living room once more, I forced the slightest smile on my face, just to make everyone think I was feeling better. If anything, I was feeling worse. But Vector could see right through the fake smile and shook his head sadly, but said nothing. Everyone else seemed to believe the lie and didn't bother questioning this new found "joy", but smiled along and continued on with their lives, like the past three days were nothing but a bad memory, one to forget quickly. If only I could do the same thing. If only.

Only minutes after we ate a small lunch, an alarm went off and Tail rushed over to a large, newly installed computer and began to type rapidly in it. Vector watched eagerly, ready for some excitement, and the others followed suit. I watched from a distance as a map appeared on the screen, which was really a bird's eye view of the headquarters and the area around it. There was a red dot flickering on the screen, next to the lake nearby, and Tails turned to Vector. "Looks like someone's here."

Vector nodded, and turning to me, he spoke. "Espio, why don't you go check it out? Take Shadow and Sonic along with you." I shrugged my shoulders, deciding a little bit of fresh air and some excitement might trigger some real happiness, and nodded to Sonic and Shadow. Amy clung to Sonic's arm with a smile. "I'm going too! I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to my poor Sonic!" Sonic looked annoyed, giving me a look that seemed to scream 'Get-her-off-me'. I couldn't help but smile at this, a real smile, and shrugged my shoulders again.

"Amy, my computer says it's only one person, so I doubt they won't be in any danger!" Tails jumped to Sonic's rescue, but with little progress. "I'm going anyways! Usually where there is one person, more are sure to follow! Now come on, let's go investigate!" Tugging at Sonic's arm, she dragged him out the door. With a quick smirk to Shadow, we followed. The lake was only about a mile or so from the Headquarters so were there in about 15 minutes. We stopped right at the tree line and watched from behind the trees. If anything were to come out of this, we didn't want to be ambushed because we walked right into a trap. Shadow and Sonic both shot a look to me, telling me to go ahead for a better look, and I nodded. I might as well.

Slipping into invisibility, I stepped forward, careful not to make a noise, and broke through the tree line. Glancing around, I looked for anything suspicious or anything that didn't seem ordinary. Then, I saw someone laying at the edge of the shore, drinking water from the lake. But it wasn't really a 'someone', more like a 'something'. I stepped closer to get a better look. It was a wolf, lapping at the cool water of the lake.

I was utterly confused. Wolves aren't common around this area; in fact, I've never seen one around here all my life. But here it was. Odd. I stepped closer still, and without realizing it, snapped a twig with my foot. I winced, going completely rigid, as the wolf turned its gaze to where I was standing. It couldn't see me, but it was almost like it could sense me. It didn't look away, even after a minute rolled by. I was growing rather tired of standing in one position and shifted slightly, avoiding the twig.

Then, the most amazing thing happened. The wolf rolled back onto its haunches (1), and suddenly transformed into a human girl. But she wasn't fully human. No, in fact, she had wolf ears and a long tail that wrapped around her ankles. Her eyes were bright green, and they reminded me of Sonic's eyes. Her hair was completely black and was about waist length. She was covered in bruises and cuts, and her hair was muddy. Her clothes, which consisted of nothing but a plain light blue T-shirt and denim shorts, where torn and holding on by mere threads, and she looked exhausted. She was only half conscious, and her eyes were closed.

Sonic, Shadow, and Amy must have seen her change forms as well, for they all appeared from behind the trees and came to either side of me. Visible now, I stepped forward, and as I opened my mouth to speak, she opened her eyes and saw me. With a gasp, she got to her feet, hardly able to keep upright, and watched us. Before I said anything, she reached for her sword, which was lying in its sheath against two bags, half crying as she spoke, "What do you want from me?"

Her voice was the trigger. I knew it was her now. The bags and the sword may have just been a coincidence, but I could never mistake that voice. It was the same one from my dream. This was Midnight. It was amazing. I wasn't crazy. But, I could feel tension growing between Midnight and Sonic, Shadow, and Amy, probably fear from the hedgehogs since she was so much different than them, and I stepped forward. "Nothing. We came to see who you were."

She didn't seem to hear me. She was fighting the verge of tears as she continued. "_He_ already took my family, burned down my home, and damn near killed me! I have nothing left but this sword, and the possessions I could fit into two bags! Take them! Actually, you know what?" She threw her head back slightly, exposing her thin neck and pointing to it. "Take my life, while you're at it! I got nothing left to do with it!" Now she couldn't hold back the tears, and she fell to her knees, covering her eyes.

Acting purely out of instinct, I approached, and placed a hand on her shoulder, a reassuring touch. She shook with tears, but didn't really take note of my presence anymore. "Midnight… We aren't going to hurt you. If anything, we're here to help." I was talking to her like I've known her all my life, when really I've just met her. And she reacted noticeably to being called by name. She stopped shaking and looked up, tears still pouring from her eyes.

"How do you…?" She tried to speak, but she began to cry again, and looked back down. "I don't care anymore. If he knew my name, surely it's not that hard to figure out!" She was clenching her fists so tightly it looked as though she might cut herself with her own fingernails. I really didn't feel up to explaining my whole dream to her, especially not in front of Sonic, Shadow, and Amy, so I didn't follow up on her question, but decided to take this moment to get my questions answered.

"What did he want from you?" I said it rather abruptly, and regretted it later. She probably thought I was just trying to humor her. But instead, she lifted her head once more, raising her hand to wipe away the tears on her cheeks.

"Generally, he wanted me. He wanted me to be like a _slave_ to him. Both physically doing what I was told, and… Well… Sexually acting in his favor, if you catch my drift… And he wanted my power. My shape-shifting."

**(1)- Haunches: Back legs of a dog, (just incase you didn't know)**

**Author's Notes-**

**This was a quick chapter. At first, I was gonna connect it to Chapter 1 (actually, I did for a while, then deleted it and separated it) but then I'm like "Screw that, it**** looks horrible! So there's Chapter 2, where are my reviews?!**

**Please Note: Chapter 3 may not be as quick. It may take a few days, or it may come tomorrow, you'll just have to be checking back!**

**xoxo**

**Midnight**

**(REVIEW!)**


	3. Team Chaotix's Newest Member

**Author's Notes-**

**1-****I ****do not; in anyway, own any of the Sonic Characters of this fanfic. Characters that are not referred to in any games (ex. Midnight) are mine. No touchy!**

**2- Last time I'm gonna say this: This is my first fanfic, so please be kind with your reviews (if anyone ever DOES review). I do appreciate some pointers, but jeez, don't insult my intelligence if I messed up.**

**3- Again, I luff Espio, plain and simple. Nothing bad in this chapter, except a little swearing and stuff like that. No biggie.**

**4- Please review. It means a lot to me if you do.**

Chapter 3

Team Chaotix's Newest Member

We stared at her in shock for a moment as we processed what she said. Eggman wanted her to be a slave? A sex slave, at that. Disgusting. I shook my head slowly and looked to the others, who stepped forward to be on either side of me. Midnight looked at each of them with a glare, showing she would fight if they provoked her. Shadow was the first to find his voice.

"That's disgusting. On so many levels. Too many levels!" We all nodded in agreement, he had only voiced our thoughts. Midnight shrugged slightly and nodded, deciding she had had enough of talking. She leaned back against her bags, laying her sword on her lap and running her hand over the hilt (1). It was studded with purple diamonds and something like a family crest was engraved at the bottom. She looked at it with a weak smile. It was probably bringing back some sort of memory.

"You poor thing!" Amy cried, still gripping Sonic's arm, "But how did you get here?" She was holding his arm as though she were trying to keep him away from Midnight, like she was out to steal him from her. Paranoid, much? I don't even know why she was so worried; Midnight hardly even glanced in Sonic's direction. She was mostly looking at me. Me and Shadow, that is.

"I'd love to tell you." She said, rather coldly, "But first, I was hoping to find out for myself." She was rather defensive over a simple question, don't you think? Her eyes were glued to Amy, a mixture of hate and anger in their emerald depths. "I was just running from that fat bastard and I appeared here!" She was tense; though I could tell her energy was retreating from her.

"Fat bastard? You mean Eggman?" Sonic asked, sliding his arm out of Amy's grasp, only for her to cling to it again, a little tighter. It was a rather funny attempt for him to try to get her off of him, because he knew just as well as anyone else did that she was like a leech.

"How the hell am I supposed to know his name?" Midnight snarled, leaning her head back on the bags, eyes directed towards the pale blue sky overhead. For a moment, the anger and hate disappeared from her eyes, and she was completely relaxed as she fixed her gaze onto a cloud rolling by. She's confusing me. Badly.

"Did he have a moustache, dark glasses that kept you from seeing his eyes, and a bunch of robots following his every order?" Shadow kept the details sparse, a slight grimace on his face at the mere thought of Eggman being back. He had been the bringer of his alleged, "well deserved death," but that didn't mean Shadow was completely over all that had happened. And just the thought of him still being alive made everyone cringe.

"Yeah. And he had this stupid little machine that made him float, which got to thinkin', 'How the hell does that tiny thing keep his fat ass in the air?'" She smirked slightly at her own joke, but sighed all the same. "But what could he have against me? He captured my family, and quite possibly already killed them because I disobeyed him. Stupid dominant jackass." She clenched her fists again then released. She was growing weaker, and she was still losing blood, but she made no note of it, deciding not to draw attention to herself.

"Do you… need a place to stay, Midnight?" I said gently, eyes never leaving her face. It was like a magnet, drawing away from all the bloody cuts and horrible bruises. It was untouched, completely clean, and rather beautiful. But what am I saying? She's a human for crying out loud, I can't fall in _love_ with her! Her eyes met mine, and there was a great sense of gratitude.

"If that's… possible." Her eyes were closing now, consciousness fading in and out as she went completely loose, hardly aware that we were still here. We had to act fast. I turned to the hedgehogs, who shared my thoughts and began to approach her. They did this with cautious steps though, incase she attacked out instinct. I went ahead of them, kneeling next to her and picking her up 'bridal style'. She was completely unconscious now, but the faintest traces of a smile were on her lips. As Shadow grabbed her sword carefully, Sonic and Amy grabbed the bags.

Without warning, all four of us began to run as fast as we could. I was trying my hardest not to knock Midnight around, trying my best to keep her as still as possible, but finally I decided it was no use, and ran normally. We were there in minutes, and Vector and Tails were outside waiting for us. At first sight of Midnight, they opened the door for us and ran inside.

Laying her down gently on the couch, I caught my breath. Tails began to patch her up, while Vector began questioning us. "Who is she?" He was seated in one of the empty chairs across from the couch, and everyone else found a seat but me. I stood right next to the couch, looking down at Midnight as I responded. "Midnight."

There was silence from Vector. I finally looked away from Midnight to see he was staring in shock, jaw slightly dropped in amazement. "You mean…?" I knew he was referring to the dream I told him about. Amy, Sonic, Shadow, and Tails all seemed lost to the conversation, and Charmy was trying to hold back the urge to tell them. I nodded to Vector, looking back at Midnight and Tails.

Tails' hands were moving clumsily around her chest, trying to patch up the cuts without touching anything personal. If I wasn't so occupied with seeing if Midnight was regaining herself, I'd have laughed at Tails' attempts at looking normal, though his cheeks were burning up.

"Was she the one that set of the security alerts?" Vector was trying to get my attention, but I was hardly focused. I nodded slightly, pretending I was really focused on what he had to say, but my mind was elsewhere. If she was real, then I have some sort of connection with her. Some mental bond. But I've never even met her, never even knew she existed, until three nights ago. Vector was asking more questions, ones I didn't care to listen to, and Amy, Shadow, and Sonic answered to the best of their knowledge.

"Eggman did it." Sonic said to Vector, probably responding to something about her wounds. The name Eggman is what brought me back to the real world. "Or at least, that's what we all think. Shadow described him to Midnight, and she said that was the guy, but…"

"How can that be possible? _He's dead!"_ Shadow interjected, so loudly I was ripped fully back into focus. "How can we be sure it was him? How can we be sure Midnight isn't just making this up?" He was growing irritated, and I couldn't blame him.

"I don't think she'd make something like this up. And she even talked about his hover machine thing." Amy pointed out. I was about to spill everything about my dream, just to prove Midnight wasn't making this up, but I held it in. Amy did have a point, one that was good enough to account for something.

"But she could have just seen that in a different attack that she might have survived!" Shadow was being rather stubborn and persistent, which wasn't uncommon for him. "_Eggman is dead. Period._"

"You never know, Shadow, maybe he played dead after you attacked him so you'd stop. It has happened before." Vector finally threw his two cents in. "I mean, not to Eggman, but, to other people… They've played dead so they can escape after their attacker's leave." Vector was trying to be reasonable, which for him was a first, but Shadow wouldn't hear of it.

"I didn't stop till I knew he was dead!" Shadow retorted. There was a group of angry sighs, coming from Vector, Sonic, Amy, and even Tails.

"Shadow, he might have been a good actor. I mean, he's usually able to get Knuckles to work for him." Tails pointed out, finished with the unconscious Midnight and turning to face him.

"Knuckles is a moron. If you fought with him long enough, you could get him to believe the Earth is square!" Shadow had a point. A very sad, but true point. Knuckles could fall for anything, and Eggman getting into his head was not a hard task. But now I was growing sick of the fighting. Sonic had his mouth open the retort, but I cut him off.

"Stop! How about we all _think_ for a moment, okay? We have an actual witness," I pointed to Midnight next to me, still motionless, "That can say whether or not Eggman is still living. How about we just wait until she wakes up, and then ask her?" Everyone fell silent, their eyes on me, and reluctantly nodded. I sighed and sat back against the arm of the couch Midnight was on.

"Just saying… If Eggman really _was_ alive, why _would_ he go after her? Don't you think he'd track down Shadow first and get revenge for beating him to a bloody pulp?" Sonic was mostly just voicing the thoughts of everyone else. I had already started to piece it together.

"She's a shape shifter. If he had that power in his control, he could easily kill Shadow. Even with his Chaos Powers." I could hardly control myself, and I couldn't hold back my thoughts.

"But if she can do that…" Vector said, his voice betraying the worry he refused to show on his face, "She could kill all of us." He was confirming my suspicions, and I nodded slowly. Anything was possible. At his words, Amy instinctively draped her arms around Sonic's neck and spoke. "I'm not gonna let her kill my poor Sonic! Never!"

"That is why we need her on our side." I said, slowly. "With her, we could finish Eggman off for good." Amy raised an eyebrow at me, and let go of Sonic to put her hands on her hips.

"I don't think that's your only reason, Espio!" She said deviously, smirking.

"What do you mean?" Sonic, Shadow, and I said simultaneously.

"You like her, don't you, Espio? Admit it! You're the one who risked his skin by approaching her, called her by name, and even carried her back without being told! And that fact that you are constantly hovering over her, glancing at her to see if she's still unconscious just furthered my suspicions!" I tried to interject, but she just kept talking. "But I just wanna know… How did you know her name?" Amy was determined to get her answer, and since she had me in a corner, I didn't know how to defend myself. I looked to Vector for help, but he shrugged and shook his head.

Suddenly, Charmy flew up behind me and whispered "You should tell her about the dream! If we're lucky, she may think you're crazy and leave!" Then he began to laugh, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"What? What'd he say? What's so funny?!" Amy yelled.

"Nothing, Amy!" Charmy giggled and flew back over to be behind Vector. I shook my head with a sigh, and then turned to face Amy. Well, I might as well give it a shot. Who knows? Maybe she'll understand.

Just as I opened my mouth to start, there was a weak groan coming from behind me. I whirled around instinctively, ready to fight, when I realized Midnight had finally regained consciousness. Relaxing, I let a slight smile cross my lips as I watched her slowly ease herself into a more comfortable position. "Where am I?" She groaned; her eyes were only half way open. I could feel Amy's eyes burning through me, but I no longer cared. I stepped forward, kneeling next to the couch with a gentle smile.

"Team Chaotix Headquarters. This is where you're going to be staying." I kept my eyes solely locked into hers, and I could sense Amy was suppressing the urge to point out she was right. Whether or not I wanted to admit it, she sort of was. I mean, I wasn't going to do anything _personal_ with Midnight, but still, the attraction was obvious.

"That's nice." Midnight grunted as she rolled slightly to lie on one side. Her eyes were completely closed, and she yawned. "Is this all a dream, some tragic dream that I'll wake up from?" Her voice was soft, almost a whimper, as she took a deep breath. No one could bring themselves to say no, but I think she could tell from our silence. She sat up, opening her bright emerald eyes. "Where are my things?"

I grasped the handles of her backpacks and her sword's sheath and lay them on the floor in front of her. She slipped her hand into one of the backpacks, and pulled out a chunk of scrap metal with an emblem on it. "I got this…" She began as she propped herself up against the arm of the couch, inspecting the emblem as she spoke, "After I destroyed one of the many robots of his. They're pretty easy to break, and even easier to disengage." She held it out to Shadow, who took it with a slight hesitation. He looked at it, wide-eyed, and spoke, completely shocked.

"It's Eggman's symbol!" He shouted, gripping it tightly. Everyone gathered around to look at it with their own eyes but me, who stayed by Midnight. I knew it had to be his. Midnight fell silent, deep in thought, as everyone moved back to their respective seats. Then, they began to take turns firing off questions.

"What's your full name?" Sonic began the questioning.

"Midnight Lyn Mesner," She answered slowly, eyes shifting over his azure fur, "What's it to you?" But before Sonic could answer, Amy cut him off by asking Midnight another question.

"How old are you?"

"16," She stated. Sonic almost looked disappointed, and I could read the look in his eyes. He wanted her to be younger because he liked her too. "Though," She had her eyes closed, so she didn't notice Sonic's disappointment, "Because I'm a shape shifter, I can make myself as old I want to. I could make myself two-years-old if I really wanted to." She opened her eyes, this time with an embarrassed smile, "But don't make me. Please. Sometimes when I'm that young, I forget how to change back."

"Do you have a family?" Tails asked gently, bracing himself for a heated reply. But Midnight was silent for a moment, as though she were lost in thought, but finally replied.

"I have a father, a twin sister, two brothers, and two best friends that lived with us, both males. Auron, Luna, Louie, Nick, Absol, and Diego are their names." Her embarrassed smile had faded, leaving only a deep frown. She must have remembered they were captured. "Oh god, what have I done?" She whined and buried her face in her hands, pulling her knees closer to her chest. "If I had just… Gone with him… He would have… Set them free… Now they could be dead…" I could tell she was trying her hardest not to cry, but tears were sprouting from her cheeks anyways.

"Hey, now, don't cry!" Vector said reassuringly, smiling. He always had a soft spot for cute girls. "It's not too late! We can save 'em!" He didn't really know what responsibility he was setting on all of us by saying that, but everyone else was fully aware. Dark glares were aimed his way, though he was too captivated by Midnight to notice.

Midnight lifted her head, emerald eyes locked into his deep brown ones. At first, she looked unsure of him; her eyes were narrowed slightly as she looked him over a few times. "What's the catch? No guy I've ever known does something for free. They always want something _in return._" I could have sworn the emerald shade of her eyes darkened slightly. "And believe me, if I can destroy heavy metal robots, I could probably _break your spine in half_, if you even _try_ getting fresh with me." Her voice was even scarier than Shadow's voice when he was angry. It was quiet, almost a whisper, and Vector visibly shuddered at the sound.

"No, no! I wouldn't do that!" Vector said, holding his hands up almost in surrender. "All I want in return is for you to work with Team Chaotix." Her gaze softened slightly, to the point of confusion, and she looked up to the ceiling, obviously pondering whether she would or not. Every part of me screamed for her to say yes, but I kept a muzzle on my thoughts and stayed silent.

Every boy in the room, even the naïve eight-year-old Tails, was leaning forward with anticipation, hoping just as much as I was she would agree to the terms. It was hard for her not to accept, seeing as we could help get her family out of trouble (supposedly), and that's all she seemed to be worried about. Not the fact that she's No. 1 on Eggman's 'Wanted' list, or the fact that she was in constant danger until Eggman had her in his clutches.

She only worried about the safety of her family.

I guess I can relate. I'd probably fear for Charmy and Vector's safety before my own. They're the only family I've ever had, I guess. But would I join a group of people all of the opposite gender I've never met before, almost all of which are stronger than me? Uh, no, not likely. It took a few moments longer for her to speak again.

"I guess I have no choice. If I don't, I'll have my own family's blood on my hands…" She said.

Welcome to Team Chaotix, Midnight.

**Hilt- The handle of a sword**

**Author's Notes-**

**1-**** Geez, this is the longest chapter I've ever done so far. Of course, they're just gonna get longer as I get into the story more. Can you tell I have a lot of time on my hands?**

**2- No one seems to be reviewing…. Sure, it sucks since this is my first time, but still, be nice, for me?**

**3- Chapter 4 is gonna be up quick, I already have almost half of it done. I might even have it up tonight!**

**4- I realized that since this is in Espio's POV, and there's gonna be at least one lemon, with him involved… That's gonna be SERIOUSLY awkward, seeing as I'm a girl…**

**5****- Next chapter will be my last until I get some reviews. So if you even remotely like it, please, tell me!**


	4. You Don't Even Want to Look

**Author's Notes-**

**1-****I do not ****own any of the sonic characters in anyway. Any characters that are not referred to in any of the games (ex. Midnight, Absol, Diego, etc.), however, are mine. No touchy.**

**2- ****Nothing bad in this one either, just a little swearing. But eh, the lemon is getting closer.**

**3- What's in **_**italics**_** is what I refer to as a Flashback/Dream Connection. In this case, it is indeed a flashback from Midnight.**

**4- You people are refusing to give me reviews, so I guess I am refusing to update until I get **_**at least **__**two**_** reviews. Come on, if you guys like it, even remotely, and want to see more, take the time to say so. Plus, if I get more than 5 reviews, in later chapters, I'll do an Eggman Death Scene!**

**5- Feel free to make suggestions that you want to see, such as a lemon from a different couple (ex. ****Sonamy****Sonadow****, etc.). I need some ideas anyways!**

Chapter 4

You Don't Even Want To Look

"But where is she gonna stay?" Charmy asked as he buzzed around her head excitedly.

"She could stay in my room on the X-Tornado with me." Amy volunteered with a slight raise of her hand. Midnight's emerald gaze shifted to her slowly, and with an evil smirk, she muttered,

"That's a bad idea. All female roommates I've ever encountered had a funny habit of waking up _dead_." Though the smile on her lips gave off a faint sense of humor, her voice was serious. Amy gulped, clutching at Sonic's arm again with fear. Sonic rolled his eyes, but at the same time, he tensed slightly. Shadow raised an eyebrow at her, smirking slightly.

"Oh really, now?" He asked quietly, his smirk growing slightly. "An _innocent_ girl like you committing murder? That's unheard of." His voice was dripping with sarcasm, and spoke quietly. Vector looked a little disbelieving himself, and Charmy had stopped circling her to hover over to Vector and hide behind him. Midnight looked unaffected.

"Don't believe me?" Midnight directed her question to Shadow mostly. "Ask my last victim, who is currently residing in hell, where she belongs. Something tells me you're destined to go there next." She raised an eyebrow, almost seductively. Shadow's smirk disappeared faster than it came.

"Wow, Midnight!" Charmy cried as he continued to hover behind Vector. "You're, like, the first person to beat Shadow at his own game!" His eyes glimmered with excitement. Shadow glared at Charmy, but said nothing.

"So where _is_ she gonna stay?" Amy asked, deciding against re-offering. I don't blame her. "In the living room?"

"No." Midnight said, rather abruptly. "I can't sleep unless someone else is in the room. I've grown so used to sharing with Absol and Diego." Her hands shifted to cover her heart as she looked down at her knees. "They were always there to protect me." Her voice was weak, and sad. For a moment, the Midnight I met was gone, replaced with a more fragile, lonely side. It was unbearable to look at. I couldn't stop myself. I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around her neck gently, and resting my chin on her shoulder. She didn't draw away, in fact, she leaned her head against my mine.

"You can sleep with me." I said, and when I realized what I said, and how _wrong_ it sounded, it was too late to take it back. Wincing, I tried to regain myself, letting go of her as I stuttered. "Oh god, I didn't mean… I meant… Oh crap." My mind was going completely crazy, and I couldn't focus on what I was saying. Midnight's eyes shifted to me, and at first, she looked angry, but she smiled and giggled.

"I know what you mean…" She stopped, and looked confused again. "I never got your name. Actually, I didn't get any of your names." As we ran down through the list of names, Midnight's wolf ears twitched and turned to each person as they talked, but she had her eyes directed towards the white wall in front of her. Finally, it came down to me.

"I'm Espio." I said slowly. She smiled as silence fell once more, and chuckled, mostly to herself, as she spoke.

"Amy, Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Charmy, Vector, and Espio." She repeated slowly, still smiling. "Watch me forget all of your names within the next hour." she chuckled, and I smirked. A sense of humor was something unexpected from her, seeing as she's so cold at times. Her smile disappeared again.

"I'm sorry." She said softly, her eyes slowly running over each person as she continued, "I've been rather… short with you all. It's just all the stress. It's nothing against you." Her eyes stopped as they met mine, and she held my glance. "I know you're just trying to help, and I appreciate it."

"Hey, no worries, Midnight!" Sonic smiled, "We understand!" Everyone nodded in agreement, and Midnight's lips flicker a small smile before it disappeared again. She swung her legs to hang over the edge of the couch, and looked around.

"Does anyone know where a girl can get a nice, hot shower?" She asked. Her stomach then grumbled loudly, and she put her arms across her stomach. "And maybe something to eat?"

Vector stood suddenly, as though on cue. "I'll get you something to eat, and Espio will show you to the showers." Without a second glance, he hurried off towards the kitchen. That was odd. It was almost as though he were trying to look like the bigger man of the house. Wow, is that was a pretty face can do to a guy?

Seems like. Suddenly, Charmy got to his feet as well, and grabbed her bags and her sword. "I'll take these to Espio's room!" He cried as he zoomed off. Everyone, besides Amy, was acting funny now. I shrugged, mostly to myself, and stood as well.

"Come on Midnight." I said softly, and she nodded in response, slowly getting to her feet. Her face twisted with pain with each movement, and she took her time standing. Tails stepped forward, grabbing one of her hands, and helped her. She smiled to him slightly, thanking him, and looked to me. I started to walk, slowly, and she kept my pace steadily.

"Stupid boys." She muttered when we were alone in the hallway, where they couldn't hear us. "They're acting like they've never seen a girl before!" She was scowling good-naturedly, but still scowling all the same. "You seem to be the only one who hasn't changed completely when you're around me."

To be honest, it was incredibly hard to act natural. It was like she had some sort of spell over all of the boys in the house. But how am I supposed to answer her?

"Well… I guess…" This was awkward. Incredibly awkward. At the moment, I was wishing for her to drop the subject, but instead, she stopped to turn and face me. Now I had to answer. Way to go, Espio. "I guess it's nice to have a girl other than Amy. It's just sort of boring to see the same old faces every day. And, well, Amy tries to hard to look good for Sonic. It just comes naturally for you… I believe." Very good, Espio. Compliments are good. Girls like to be called naturally-good-looking.

She smiled warmly and chuckled. "That was unexpected. But thanks." Just then we halted at the door, and I motioned to it with my head silently. "Thanks. But first, where's your room? Charmy took my stuff in there, and I need my clothes." I completely forgot about that.

"Up the stairs," I pointed down the hallway to the staircase, "First door on the left." When she stayed still, I knew she wanted me to show her the way. I chuckled and started off, and she trailed behind me. As we climbed the stairs, her steps were slow and weak, and I could tell she was hurting. Offering my hand to her, she shook her head and continued on her own. When we entered, we saw Charmy shifting through her bags.

"Hey!" Midnight yelled, running forward and trying to grab the bag. Charmy flew higher, out of her reach, and giggled. Midnight scowled, but knowing that she couldn't reach him, sat back against the bed and gave him a death glare. He looked up for a moment and saw her glare, and put her bag down carefully.

"Sorry Midnight." He said quietly. She must have a very powerful death glare, because Charmy never listens. Never. She nodded, like she accepted his apology, and snatched her bag from him. As she pulled out some clothes, Charmy hovered over my head and whispered, "She's got a diary!" and giggled.

Midnight threw her bags on the bed and walked out without a second glance, and without another word. After checking to see if she was gone, he zoomed forward towards her bag. The temptation was irresistible, and I followed, with a devious smirk. Sure, if Midnight found out, she'd kill us both, but what if she doesn't?

As I stepped forward, I felt a sudden jolt, and I closed my eyes.

_"Absol is reading your diary again" A kid with blond hair spoke as he folded up the Comic's section without looking up. I glanced over the rim of a coffee cup, slowly putting it down. Anger was welling up inside me. I gripped the edges of the table as I stood quickly, the chair nearly falling over behind me. Whirling around, I ran to the archway, calling over my shoulder._

_"Thanks Louie." I was running hard now, down a long narrow hallway. I skid to a stop outside a purple door, and pressed my wolf ear to it. There were was a boy reading something aloud, and another was giggling every other sentence._

_"I swear to God, he was smiling at me the whole time I stood in front of the class, reciting that poem by heart. I think he's soooo cute! And I think he likes me!" Both boys began to laugh, and stepped back. At first, I felt like crying. My eyes watered __slightly, and I shook my head. Then my embarrassment faded, and was replaced with deep hatred._

_Lifting a foot, I effortlessly kicked the door open. Both boys, one with bleached white hair and deep blue eyes, the other with jet black hair and orange eyes, jumped to their feet, backing up. The white haired boy, who was holding the diary, dropped it quickly._

_"I'm… I'm sorry Midnight!" The white haired boy whimpered, still backing up. The fox like ears on the top of his head folded down sadly. "HotShot told me to!" He said, pointing at the other boy._

_"I did not!" He __shouted, sinking back. I took a threatening step forward, and they both flinched. It was actually sort of funny how cowardly they were acting, and if I wasn't so mad, I would have laughed._

_"Absol." I said slowly, turning to the white haired boy. He met my gaze weakly, and then looked away. "HotShot." I said, now turning to the black haired boy. He didn't even attempt to look at me, but started to sink towards the door._

_"Get the hell…" I paused for a moment, snatching up the diary. "Out of my room!" Simultaneously, they both zoomed for the door, and left. I sat down on my bed, stuffing the diary beneath the mattress, and sat, cross legged, tears now falling from my cheeks._

_"You bastards…" I muttered quietly to myself. Then everything went dark._

Suddenly, I was brought back to the real world. All the energy was drained from me, and beads of cold sweat dripped down my forehead as I fell to my knees. My breath, slow and heavy, began to even out. Charmy was hovering over Midnight's bag, but was turned towards me.

"Espio?" He zoomed over and lowered himself so he was face-to-face with me. At first, my sight was blurry, and I could only see a silhouette of his face, but as my energy returned, so did my sight. "You okay, Espio?"

"Yeah…" I said weakly as I slowly stood again. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You don't look so good. What happened?"

"I… I don't know, Charmy. It was like that dream I had…" I groaned as I shook my head slightly. I felt weak all over, and I sat down on the bed, next to the bags. Charmy zoomed over towards the backpack with her diary in it, and I raised a hand to stop him. "Charmy, you _don't_ want to even _look at the_ _cover_ of that diary."

**Author's Notes-**

**1-**** Well, this chapter was pretty fun to do. The flashback was just to show the connection between Espio and Midnight is still there, and they still have to figure it out, so there's another reason for you to want me to continue.**

**2- Just look up at the pre author's notes, because I don't feel like repeating myself.**

**3- Have a good day, and please, REVIEW!**

**xoxo**

**Midnight**


	5. Tell Her How You Feel

**Author's Notes-**

**1-****Oh me gawd, two people actually reviewed! Yay! I worked hard to get this Chapter done ASAP for you two, so I hope you like it! I sorta had to B-S my way through; only because I had to get the whole 'Espio is starting to really like Midnight' thing past so things can really get **_**interesting**_

**2- As for Review responses…**

** KatAngel711- Hey! Thanks for the review and I only put that in there incase someone wanted to make a suggestion on how to make things more interesting. I probably would have disregarded a Sonadow request, because quite frankly, it would be awkward enough to be typing Espio's POV when he is… doing… Midnight, much less him **_**watching**_** Shadow****…**** do****…**** Sonic… AWKWARD!**

** TheOnlySaneOne- Do you know how much your pen name fits? At first, you were the only sane one to R&R! ****Hehe. But I can't answer you question about Midnight escaping, or I'll give away part of the story. Though, this chapter may vaguely explain such. ****Hinty****, hint, hint, look at the part with Knuckles where he talks about Eggman.**

**3- As we already know, I do not own any Sonic Characters, only the ones they don't mention in games, such as Midnight, Diego, Absol, Auron, Louie, Nick, and Luna. Even though you don't see the last few till later chapters! And plus, we already know I love Espio! ****xD**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 5

Tell Her How You Feel

"Aw! But I wanna read it! Girly diaries are funny!" Charmy whined, flailing his arms around helplessly as he hovered in the air, something equivalent to a puppy dog pout on his face. I smirked slightly, out of sheer amusement that he was begging.

"You know that face doesn't work on me." I said flatly, picking up the diary and putting it behind my back. "Midnight's friends feared her when she caught them, and the last thing we need is for her to try and kill you or something!"

"Can I at least look at the pictures she has in the front pouch?!" He exclaimed, zooming over to the bag and pulling out a stack of pictures. With a sigh, I put the diary down on the night stand and sat down on the bed.

"It's your funeral." I mumbled as Charmy zoomed over and sat down next to me. He began flipping through the pictures quickly, and as he passed on around the middle of the pile, I reached forward and grabbed it swiftly. Pulling it closer to get a better look at it, it was a family photo at a beach of some sort.

To the far left was a tall man with sandy blonde hair and the same green eyes as Midnight, wearing a muscle shirt and swim trunks. He was probably Midnight's father, Auron. Next to him was HotShot, the same one from the flashback and next to him was Absol. Standing in front of a slender boy that looked almost exactly like Auron, was Midnight.

She was actually smiling. Not the fake ones she forces when she's here, fearing for her families' lives, but a carefree, cheerful smile.

Have you ever heard the saying 'Smiles Are Contagious'? Well, right now I couldn't argue with it. Just the nature of the smile sparked one on my face. Charmy must have seen me smiling, because he put the other pictures down at peered over my shoulder.

"What's so funny Espio?" He inquired, and I was about to respond when I saw Midnight standing in the doorway. Her hair was still soaking wet, but she looked a lot better. All the mud and caked on dirt was washed away, but that made the gashes and bruises even more noticeable. Her smile, though not as cheerful in the picture, was evident as she came to stand next to me.

She didn't say a thing as she grabbed the pictures Charmy had put down and slipped them carefully back in her backpack, along with the torn and dirty clothes she had appeared in. Then, with careful grace, she sat down on the other side of the bed, away from Charmy and I, and lay back. Charmy looked confused, and cautiously approached her.

"Is something wrong, Midnight?" He asked gently, hovering directly over her head. Her eyes met his, and then they closed slowly, the smile fading to a content line. Not happy, but not sad either, just content.

"I'm just not very social." She said softly, and I could hear the urge to sigh in her tone. But she held it in, probably so she didn't seem offensive because she was bored or annoyed by us. Charmy smiled still, a little bit teasing.

"Well that might be a problem, Midnight, because everyone here is REALLY social! I mean, half the time, you can't even get Vector to _shut up_!" He giggled at what he said, and then flopped down on the bed at Midnight's feet. Midnight sat up, and ran a hand over his head, smiling almost like a mother would when she's praising her child. "You'll probably get over it after you get to know everyone." Charmy added with a childish smile. Midnight nodded.

"I hope you're right." She said softly, patting the top of his head and pulling her hand back. Just as Charmy was about to say something else, Shadow came into the room and leaned against the wall in front of Midnight, arms crossed over his chest, frowning like usual.

"Vector told me to come tell you that whenever you're ready, he has a meal for you. He didn't know what you liked, so he made you Ramen." He spoke quietly, his crimson red eyes matching her emerald ones. Their eyes were polar opposite. Midnight's were expressive and showed how she was feeling, and were a light shade of green, while Shadow's were completely dulled of any emotion, and were a shade of red equivalent to blood.

But don't opposites attract?

"Thanks, Shadow." She said, almost dismissively, as she leaned back. But Shadow didn't budge, nor did his eyes move from her. It was hard to tell, but if I didn't know any better, I'd think he liked her. Midnight continued to watch him as well, the smile that Charmy sparked had faded, and the content line was back. "What are you looking at?" She finally inquired after a few more seconds of staring at him starting at her.

"You." He said, rather bluntly, the faintest traces of a smile on his face. Midnight must not have seen it, or maybe her response would have changed.

"No shit, Sherlock." She said, rather sarcastic. "Let me re-word it, since you _obviously_ don't comprehend what I say in the _right_ way. _Why_ are you looking at me?" Her gaze had sharpened, and she was now glaring at him. Shadow looked amused, and the traces of a smile grew into an actual smile, though it was still very small.

"Because I feel like it." He replied. I couldn't tell if his smile was from the amusement of her over-stimulated anger, or just because he was looking at her. Midnight, annoyed, rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath soft enough that I couldn't hear it. Standing now, next to the bed, she headed towards the door, pausing momentarily to mouth out something to Shadow, which looked to be along the lines of 'Fuck you', and left without another word to me or Charmy.

Charmy zoomed after her, probably happy to talk to someone who wasn't annoyed with his constantly perky attitude and able to stand how he always voices his opinions, whether they are hurtful to someone or not. This left Shadow and I alone.

"You better pick up the pace, Espio." He mutters as he pushed off the wall slightly, making his way towards the door. "I just might beat you to her if you don't." Then he left, leaving me to ponder what he meant. Surely he didn't just confess that he likes her, or that he was trying for her heart, right?

Who am I kidding?

Also getting to my feet, I jogged down the stairs and through the hall, coming into the living room. Midnight was now sitting at the table, bent over a bowl of Ramen, and all the boys, even Charmy, were staring at her. What they were thinking, I almost didn't want to know. Amy was no where to be seen, luckily, or Sonic would have his head chopped off for looking at another girl than her. Midnight didn't seem to notice the five pairs of eyes on her.

Except for the occasionally sound of slurping, there was silence.

Then the door swung open. Everyone looked at the figure standing in the doorway. It was Knuckles. His lips, normally holding a smirk, were curved down in a frown, and he immediately walked over and leaned against the island counter in the center of the kitchen.

"Guys, I think Eggman's back." He murmured, crestfallen. He was one of the happiest that Eggman was gone. "Because I could have sworn I saw him near the Master Emerald." For all of you who didn't know, Knuckles is the guardian of the Master Emerald, one of the largest sources of power. Eggman or Rouge was always trying to get to it, but neither of them got very far when he was around.

"Back?" Midnight had finished the Ramen and drank the broth, then slid the bowl away from her and faced Knuckles. "What do you mean, 'back'?"

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Knuckles growled. He had a hard time meeting new people, because he was very paranoid and easily angered.

"I asked first. You answer, I answer." Midnight stated simply, her eyes shifting from him to the others. Knuckles looked annoyed, but knew he wouldn't get anywhere if he kept pressing for his own answer.

"We all thought Shadow killed him." He said bluntly. "Turns out we were wrong."

"If it was you who inferred, I can see why." Midnight said flatly, a sarcastic smirk on her lips. Knuckles growled louder, his large fists clenched.

"I don't have time for your sarcasm, bitch! Who are you, and why are you here?!"

"Hey!" Charmy interjected, flying towards Midnight. "Don't call Midnight that! She's nice!" Vector and Shadow nodded in agreement.

"Oh yeah, she's _really nice_!" Knuckles retorted sarcastically. "She doesn't know a thing about me, and yet she calls me stupid." He wasn't really insulted by her remark; he was just showing that he considered himself a leader and demanded the respect his self-proclaimed title granted. Midnight stood now, wanting to fight her own fights.

"I know dumbasses when I see them." She snarled. "And I can smell weakness. You reek of it." Wow, she was in for a hell of a fight with that last remark. Knuckles stepped forward threateningly, but Midnight didn't budge.

"Guys…" Sonic began, but neither would hear of it.

"I'm weak, huh?" Knuckles growled; he was ready for a good fist-fight. "Well, I'll show you weakness! Your own!" And with that, he steps forward, swinging his fist. Midnight ducked with such agility even I, the ninja of the group, was impressed.

"Don't make me angry, dude. You won't like me when I'm angry." Midnight retorted, stepped back and standing upright again. Knuckles tried again, and after Midnight evaded it, she shook her head. "Let's take this outside, shall we? I'd hate for you to ruin something with your bad aim." She smirked, and headed for the door. As she passed me, I reached out and gripped her shoulder, stopping her dead in her tracks. She turned her head to face me, with a teasing glare. "What's the big idea, Espio?"

"Drop it." I said calmly, which amazed me. "He's with us. If you kill him, or even hurt him, he'll get mad and when we try to explain, he'll think we're taking your side." I paused for a brief moment to allow what I said to sink in. She tilted her head down now, looking like a puppy that had just been scolded and was remorseful.

"Plus…" I couldn't stop myself from saying, "…I don't want you getting hurt." Her neck snapped up quickly, and I dared to meet her emerald eyes. For once, I couldn't read what she was thinking by her eyes. That was dumb; really dumb. I wasn't even sure if I felt that way about her, and yet…

"Thanks." Her voice was nothing but a whisper as she smiled slightly. She then turned her gaze to Knuckles. "Look. I don't like you; you don't like me, but let's put this behind us." She didn't wait for his response as she turned around and headed for the hall. "Besides, I don't wanna embarrass you when I beat your sorry ass to the ground!" And walked out.

Knuckles was stunned to the point he couldn't even retort with something sarcastic like he always does. He watched were she left from, then fell back with a sigh and leaned against the wall.

"Who… the hell… was that?" He exclaimed, still stunned.

"I told you, she's Midnight!" Charmy piped up, smiling happily. "She's really nice, and I think she likes me!" He was buzzing about waving his arms happily. I don't think I've seen him this happy about anyone before.

"Don't be stupid!" Vector snapped. "She's just being nice to you and humoring you! That's it!" I think Vector was trying to tell himself that more than Charmy, because he looked almost worried that Charmy was right.

"Well she defiantly doesn't like you!" He retorted, looking angry. I sighed, shaking my head and rolling my eyes. If another fight broke out, I was gonna go crazy. That's all we've been doing anyways.

"Just because you made her dinner doesn't automatically make her yours!" Shadow interjected. He made it look as though he was standing up for Charmy, but I knew he was really just trying to prove she was still open.

"Will you guys knock it off?" I exclaimed finally, tired of people picking and choosing for Midnight like she was child or something incapable of her own thought. "It's none of our business wondering who she likes until she actually says it! For all we know, she could love one her friends that lived with her, like HotShot or Absol!" That last part was a stretch, but most of the guys seemed to agree with me.

"Yeah, sure, that's what you want us to think…" Shadow smirked, his crimson reds locked onto me. I was the target. I was going to dread this. "But you secretly want her for yourself, and you'll lie your way out of these situations just to get her." He seemed convinced, and after he said this, Vector even looked like he agreed.

I stood up stiffer; I couldn't believe my own best friends were against me. Over a girl. _She is a really good looking girl though, Espio._ My mind screamed, and I did my best to ignore it, no matter how right it was. "You guys are crazy!" I snapped. "I don't… I mean, I do like her… But I wouldn't lie about it! She's… She's nice, yeah, but I don't like her like… that!" Every word I said was killing me more.

"Sure you don't." Sonic said, deeply sarcastic. "_I don't want you getting hurt…" _He said, mocking my voice badly. My voice is deep, while his is high pitched and almost girly. "Really sounds like you don't love her."

"I don't!" I snapped again. "I just care about her well being! She was hurt already, so I didn't need Knuckle-Head here giving her more wounds!" This was going badly. Now I was hoping Amy would come back and stop this, seeing as all the guys wanted to press further. I slipped my hands in my jean pockets, looking down, trying to avoid their condescending glares.

"Guys!" Knuckles finally snapped. "While this conversation is very _interesting,_" His voice was dipped in sarcasm. "Let's focus on the reason I came here. EGGMAN. IS. BACK!"

As if on cue, Midnight reappeared in the door way, looking in higher spirits than earlier. Slipping right into the group who was now gathered in a circle like she was one of us, she stopped right next to me. Looking up at me with her bright green eyes, she took and arm and looped it around mine, smiling.

What was she doing?

I could feel my cheeks growing hot, and I smiled nervously, looking down at her only to avoid everyone's gaze locked onto me. I could still feel it though. It was embarrassing…

"But I couldn't figure out what Eggman was doing…" Knuckles was trying to draw attention away from me, which I was grateful for. "I mean, I know he's always seeking the power from the emerald, but this time, he was just… staring at it. And he was muttering 'How did she get away' under his breath. The moment he saw me, though, he fled." He paused, deep in thought. "I wonder who he was talking about…"

I looked up in time to see everyone lifted a hand and pointed directly at Midnight, who still had an arm looped around mine. She was sort of out of it at the moment. Her eyes were directed towards the floor, completely un-focused. I squeezed my arm closer to my own body, pressing her arm between my side and my arm, and she snapped to attention. As she saw everyone pointing at her, she looked confused.

"…What?" She blinked. Knuckles gave an exasperated sigh.

"Do you know Eggman?" His eyes were locked into hers, with an almost threatening edge to them. Midnight instinctively tensed beneath his glare, but met it head on.

"The fat ass that possibly killed my family and tried to gain complete control over me? Oh, yeah, I've run into him on the streets once or twice." She mutters sarcastically, with a casual roll of her eyes.

"You know what I fucking mean." Knuckles retorted angrily, and Midnight raised an eyebrow.

"I do? I don't remember learning the language of idiots." Her smile, so cold, matched her attitude so well. Maybe I shouldn't let her think I like her. I mean, look at how she acts towards my friends.

"Midnight!" Charmy flew up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder, "He may be dumb, but he's trying to make a point. Hear him out."

Midnight responded with a roll of her eyes, but she relaxed again. "Yes, Knuckles, I know him."

"How did you get here?" He asked. Midnight growled, impatient.

"You people keep fucking asking me that and I give you the same damn answer. I don't know."

Knuckles sighed again, and headed towards the door. "Well, I'm going to go see if the Master Emerald had anything to do with it." He muttered. I knew he was just looking for a reason to get away from Midnight's rage, and I couldn't blame him. "Keep the freak on a leash." He said, and slammed the door behind him. Midnight didn't look that affected to the naked eye, but the way her eyes softened at the edges was a give away. Only someone like me would notice that, though. Just a tiny detail.

"Midnight, can I talk to you?" I asked. She looked up at me, her smile returning, and nodded. Oh god, how was I going to do this? She's had so much happen to her, and now I was going to break off something she thinks had sparked between us. As he stopped in the hall, Midnight turned to me. As I opened my mouth to say something, she started off first.

"Look, I know, that was uncalled for. But when I'm under this much stress, I shift personalities, and you guys just happened to see my bad side. D-I-D is a sucky thing to have, let me tell you."

She paused for a moment, as if she were giving me a chance to speak. But I was too stunned to even move. She took this as a sign to continue. "I need a little time to cool off." And walked towards the bedroom.

Is she a mind reader or something?

Although I wasn't thinking, I started walking towards the others, with only one thing on my mind. What is D-I-D? Upon coming back to the gang, I turned my attention directly to Tails.

"What is D-I-D?" Tails looked stunned at first, then his brows furrowed together as he thought.

"Dissociative Identity Disorder. It's when someone under extreme stress takes on another personality, another life, to escape it." His answer was firm, and he looked rather sure of himself. "Why?"

"Midnight says that's what she has." I was completely lost on the whole matter and I was slowly piecing it together. Tails looked shocked, and shook his head.

"I should have seen it! The constant mood swings, her angry retorts at simple comments… I guess I thought that was how she always acted…" He trailed off, deep in thought.

"Hey Espio," Sonic smirked, "what was up with Midnight clinging to you like that?" I knew this was going to come up, but that didn't make it any easier to take. Once again, I felt the heat rising to my cheeks, and I tried desperately to shake the feeling off. What feeling, you may ask? I don't really know how to describe it, but my heart seemed to skip a beat when someone said her name. Love?

That's crazy. I just met her.

But something seemed to pull me towards her. It was more than just a small spark of attraction, too. Something about her just drew me close like one magnet to another. Maybe those strange dreams where I'm in her head and can feel everything she feels have to do with it. But I'll have to find that out on my own.

"She was clinging to you like Amy clings to Sonic!" Shadow pointed out with a broad smirk. And as if on cue, Amy appeared through the front door, readjusting the red headband that held back most her bangs. The moment she saw me, and how red my cheeks were, she turned to the others. "What happened?"

"Oh nothing," Vector said, smirking as well, "Midnight just clung to him like she's known him all her life or something."

"I knew it!" Amy shrieked, grinning from ear to ear. "I knew you liked her! I just can't imagine that you already asked her to be yours when you just met her!" She paused to think for a moment, and then voiced her thoughts, "And to think, I always thought you'd stay single. I mean you're so standoff-ish and kept to yourself; I couldn't imagine you'd fall in love, especially at this quick of a pace!" She gave off a dreamy sigh; one that made me want to barf, and said. "Just like me and my Sonic! I never thought I'd fall in love until I met him!"

When Amy wasn't looking, Sonic pretended to gag himself, which resulted in Charmy bursting with laughter. She whirled around to face him, glaring, and Charmy automatically stopped what he was doing and attempted to put on a straight face. That didn't go out very well. His lips quivered as he fought back a smile, and finally he had to turn away so Amy didn't see him silently laughing. Amy decided to ignore it, turning her attention fully on me.

"I never asked her." I said simply, and she stared at me blankly for a moment. "She must have just assumed from the fact that I said I cared about her that I loved her when really…" I wanted to say I didn't love her, but the words wouldn't come. I'm a horrible liar. I always have been, always will be. "…don't know if I like her that way or not…" I finished, deciding it wasn't fully a lie. I didn't know if I was ready for such a commitment, really.

"Oh you know you do!" Amy giggled, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I can totally see you guys together! It's like magic!" Her emerald eyes shifted up towards the ceiling, like a clear picture of Midnight and I together hung directly over my head. I could feel my heart skip a beat again, and my breathing shifted off its normal pattern.

"You really think so?" I can't believe this. I was acting like some loser that was head-over-heels in love. Wait. I was. I really was. How did I let it come to this?

"I'm 100 percent sure of it!" She cried. "Now you just gotta tell her how you feel!"

Feel. In combat, you can never really feel anything. If you showed your emotions, your enemies would use it against you. If you showed physical pain, they would strike at your weak spot. Since I spent most of my life learning what not to do in combat, I completely shut down any great emotions.

Now Amy was telling me to throw them out on display for Midnight like pennies in a fountain. Was it really worth it?

"That one I'll have to think about…" I said. Amy looked defiant.

"Bullshit." She muttered. Amy was never really the one to swear. 'It's un-lady-like' she would always state. Everyone was shocked, and when Amy saw their faces, she grew defensive. "It is! Look at him! He loves her, and he won't admit it!" Her eyes turned back to me, and she put her hands on her hips, repeating herself once more for emphasis.

"Tell her how you feel."

**Author's Notes-**

**1-**** This was probably my longest, total B-S-****ed**** chapter I've ever written, on and off I hated how it came out, but maybe I'm just being my own worst critic. Tell me what you think, guys.**

**2- Don't forget to review! You guys were the only reasons I didn't give up on this fanfic completely! Thanks!**

**3- Tell your other Sonic-Character (Or Espio obsessed) friends about me! The more reviews, the faster the chapters come, and the more you guys have to read! Spread the word! (Jesus, does anyone else think I sound like an advertiser or something?)**

**4- Chapter 6 will be better, I promise! Actually, since I have some time tonight, I'll start working on it!**

**xoxo**

**Midnight**


	6. Together

**Author's Notes-**

**1-****Oh how could I neglect to do this chapter? It called to me. I had to. Thank God though, it kept my mind occupied while I stood on the border between two of my three personalities (Yeah, I have DID, just like my character). I think it turned out great.**

**2- Oh god, one chapter down, one chapter closer to the lemon. I'm nervous; I've never done one before. If anyone has any pointers, feel free to tell me. PLEASE!**

**3- TheOnlySaneOne- I love you, do you know that? You and KatAngel711 are the only reasons I kept on with this fanfic, and I'm so glad I did. Cookies for you two! –Throws out snicker doodles-**

**4- ENJOY! It's probably one of my favorite chapters so far.**

Chapter 6

Together

Trying to disregard Amy's 'tell her how you feel' statements wasn't as easy as I thought. Midnight, as if she could my uneasiness, did very well to avoid me while I thought it over. She lingered about like a shadow, only to be seen, not to be heard. Everyone did their best to ask her yes or no questions, seeing as she would only nod, shake her head, or shrug. Whenever someone would ask her what was wrong, she'd simply say,

"I'm standing on the line."

As if that made perfect sense. We decided it was best to ignore it, that if she really wanted to tell us, she could, but we wouldn't push her too. Tails said it was best for her anyways. People with DID are supposedly emotionally unstable in most cases.

As nightfall came, everyone slowly started to wind down for the night. Shadow, Tails, Amy, and Sonic all left the headquarters towards the X Tornado, exchanging good-nights. As Amy approached me to say goodnight, she looked at me, then looked at Midnight, wordless. I knew perfectly well what she meant, and I shrugged it off, which resulted in her rolling her eyes.

"Good night Espio." She said stiffly, then walked off, clinging to Sonic's arm. Midnight was seated on the arm of the couch, emerald eyes watching as they all left, and even after the door closed, she stared in that direction apparently lost in thought. Charmy zoomed over towards her and hugged her, saying good night and zooming off towards his room. Vector only said good night, fearing a hug would make her pull away from him. Now were alone in the living room.

She turned her eyes towards me, catching my gaze, and holding it without blinking. I could tell, just by the way she was looking at me, so plain and ordinary, as if the tension was not there… She was thinking of me. I was thinking of her. It was so obvious. How couldn't I see it before? It was love. There was no denying it; there was no explaining it either. Whether it was destiny, or purely lust, it was there, and it needed to be pursued.

"Midnight, I…" I forced my voice calm, though my heart was racing. She must not have heard me, or didn't want to hear me, fearing what I'd say, for she got to her feet and left the room. I too jumped to my feet and followed her, wondering how I was going to say it. As I came to my room, she was already lying on the bed, and she looked up at me, her emerald eyes locked into my golden ones.

_'Say it, Espio, while you still have the courage!'_ My mind screamed. My courage was dying steadily as she looked at me, fearing that I would not understand the things she was going through. I slowly let out a breath, and sat down on the edge of the bed, letting my hands fall limply to the bed at my sides. My left hand was inches from hers. _'Just grab it,'_ my mind said again. I looked down at her now, but her eyes were closed, and she looked like she was in pain.

_"But Johnny… You said you loved me." My eyes were watering as I held the phone to my ear. It felt like my strength was being sucked away from me as I sat on my bed, in the dark, as rain pelted the windows. "Why are you doing this? On my birthday, of all days?"_

_"I lied, Midnight." The voice on the other line said dully. There was someone talking in the background, a female by the sounds of it. "__I only felt sorry for you because you were so desperate for a boyfriend. Everything I've ever said to you, about loving you and all, it was lies." He paused for a moment to clear his throat. "And secondly, you're incredibly clingy. I couldn't have two seconds of school outside of classes to breathe on my own without you holding onto my arm like I was the last thing keeping you alive."_

_"But you were!" I cried, hanging my head. "I devoted my life to you for years now. Can't you understand? I need you, Johnny."_

_"You're going to have to find someone else Midnight.__" He said flatly. My breaths, coming in pained shudders, echoed in the phone. "Goodbye."_

_The other line went quiet. All I could hear was the phone dropping from my hand and falling with a soft thump to the comforters. Slowly I closed my eyes, willing the pain in my heart to fade._

My eyes opened again. I was back in my room. Back in the Team Chaotix Headquarters. Back in my own head. I looked down at Midnight, who was silently crying to herself, tears running down her cheeks as she kept her eyes closed. Now I could see why she wouldn't let me finish. She's afraid to get hurt. She's afraid I might be like Johnny and lie to her about loving her. Even without this knowledge, I don't think I could possibly do such a thing. I could tell from the moment I met her she was fragile, no matter how much she tried to hide her real feelings behind a wall of rage.

"Midnight…" I said softly, lifting my hand to brush away the tears. She didn't open her eyes, just shied away from my hand like I was going to hit her. I understood, and allowed my hand to drop, gently pressed atop hers. I didn't know what to say, or even what to do. I felt so helpless. "Midnight…" I said again, this time, only to get her attention. She didn't acknowledge my presence, but instead, turned so her back was to me. "It wasn't right for him to lie to you like that," I found my instincts were making me speak, "but you shouldn't push everyone else away who really care about you."

Her wolf ears twitched and swiveled in my direction, though the rest of her body had not moved. She was listening now; she just wasn't acknowledging the underlying meaning of it all. "We all care about you, Midnight." I had to draw this out. I was so close to breaking the barrier she has put around herself, to shield her heart from the greedy hands of anyone in the mood to break it. "And we hate to see you like this. We don't want to be shut out of your life. We want to help make it better. We're going to do everything in our power to save your family and friends, but we need you to trust us on this; trust _me_ on this." And I finally stopped. If she wanted to ignore it, then I couldn't do anything to stop her.

Her silence stretched for minutes, but to me it seemed like hours. I did not move, nor did I even blink for long periods of time. Slowly, she turned to face me, the tears gone, and stared at me, eyes wide as baseballs as she marveled me in shock, sitting up. She was just as surprised as I was. I never really had a way with words, but something just drew all the thoughts from my mind and strung them together into sentences.

"D'you… really mean it?" Her voice was nothing but a whisper as her eyes met mine. She looked as though she didn't want to believe it. I felt my hands slide forward, grasping hers gently, in a comforting way, as I answered.

"I wouldn't lie to you like that Midnight..." I paused, and pondered if now was the moment to take Amy's advice. After a long moment, she looked away, and slowly sank back onto the bed. _Drop it, Espio; she's not ready for another commitment…_ My mind told me. Slowly, I sank back onto the bed too, slowly closing my eyes. It had been a long stressful day. The mattress felt so good beneath me.

I woke early in the morning to Midnight's warm breath on my neck. Curled up next to me like a wolf, she was sleeping peacefully, after about half a night of restless tossing and turning. Though I lost much sleep to it, I wasn't about to complain. Midnight had been through more than I had, and listening to me bitch about the lack of sleep wasn't exactly going to help the problem.

Turning my gaze from her sleeping form to the clock, my eyes took a moment to adjust before I could make out the bright neon numbers. It was 5 am. Gently, I eased myself out of the bed, being careful not to disturb her sleep. I needed to meditate. I needed to clear my mind for a while.

I found it amazing, as I left the room, that Midnight didn't push me out of the bed last night. Surely sleeping next to a stranger of the opposite sex, one who could possibly overpower her when she was in such a condition, would set off some warning bells. But she actually shifted so she was closer to me in the middle of the night, once she had fallen asleep. Maybe it was just natural for her to sleep close to someone, so she didn't really think different of it.

Entering the living room, I found I was the first to wake. With a slight nod to myself, I slipped silently over to the corner where I had laid a blanket, and sat down on it. Crossing my legs, I closed my eyes, slowly easing the tension in my body as I thought things through. All this stress with Midnight lately has been making my muscles knot up in frustration.

Instead of thinking about the things that normally haunted my mind, the dreams Midnight and I shared and the flash backs replayed in the order I saw them. Now there was no denying it. I loved Midnight. If even during meditation she is constantly on my mind, there is no other logical explanation.

_"Espio,"_ the voice was faint in the back of my minds as the very first dream played in my head. If I didn't know any better, it was either my conscience, or Midnight was calling me. But Midnight couldn't possibly up at this hour; I had left her sleeping heavily in my room.

_"Espio," _the voice said again. This time, it was louder. As I mentally stared up into the black sunglasses of Doctor Eggman, I could see the flames reflected in them. Everything in that house was gone. All the things that Midnight couldn't fit in those two bags would never fall under her eyes again.

"Espio!" Finally coming back to the real world, I opened my eyes to be face-to-face with Midnight. Shocked, I flinched slightly, and Midnight giggled softly. "Sorry, but I thought you were dead or something. You wouldn't say a thing, or even move!" She was whispering, probably aware that everyone else was asleep.

I didn't respond to what she said, but pondered on how she could possibly be awake. I was sure I didn't move her, since I placed the extra pillows in the gap next to her I left. And I know she couldn't possibly have heard me leave, I'm always silent when I move, and I have to be.

"I couldn't hear your breath or feel your body heat." She explained as I threw together some fruit for her to eat. Most of us didn't wake up early enough for breakfast, so we didn't have much for her. She gratefully took the bowl and began to nibble on it slowly. "I'm always used to Diego sleeping in later than I do. I can't sleep without some source of warm by me besides my own." She said sheepishly, looking down at the fruit to avoid my eyes.

"So that's why you were so close to me when I woke up…" I said, mostly to myself, as I leaned against the counter, watching her nibble. "Sort of surprised me."

"Sorry." She muttered as he swallowed a bite. "I'll try to keep myself from doing it."

"No, no," I said shaking my head with a casual smile, "It's alright. I'm not bothered. I just wish I had had a fair warning."

"Sorry." She said again, and took another bite. Something was on her mind. I could see it clearly; I just couldn't tell what it was. As she swallowed the last bite, she finally looked up at me. "Look, about last night..." She began, but I cut her off.

"No need to apologize for that too. Everyone has their weaknesses, but overcoming them are what makes you stronger." Those words had been carried down from ninjitsu teacher to student for generations. She snorted softly with a warm smile.

"I know that." She says softly. "I wasn't going to apologize for it… Well, maybe I was… But that wasn't my full intention of bringing it up…" She paused for a moment, and she looked up towards the ceiling, probably trying to put the words together that were floating about in her head. "Did you really mean… What you said last night? Or was it just one of those 'spur-of-the-moment' things?"

As she spoke, I was only half listening. I could hear the loud footsteps of Vector thumping down the stairs. At the latest, it was 5:30, maybe even 6:00. Why on earth would he be up at such an "un-godly-hour" or so he called it. As she looked to me for a response, I shrugged.

"Don't believe me?" I asked. She looked sheepish. "Then ask Vector." Vector had just entered the kitchen as I said it, and he looked confused.

"Ask me what? What did I do?" For a moment, he looked worried, but as Midnight began to laugh full-heartedly, the worry slipped from his eyes, and was replaced with his usual look of amusement. Midnight looked at me, eyebrows raised, and I knew what she meant by the gesture. Did I really expect her to ask him? I nodded, coaxing her to speak, and she let out a tiny sigh.

"Vector?" She began. Vector turned his head to face her directly, and her eyes fell on his snout with a look close to fear. No one could really blame her, his large powerful jaws looked rather threatening. Numerous times, Vector claimed that he could crush a steel pole if it suited him. Charmy refused to believe, and nor would I. Many times, we'd tell him to prove it, and he'd always answer with, _'When the time is right, boys, you'll see what these jaws can do!'_

"Yeah?" He said, as she paused for a long time, gazing at his jaws. She froze for a moment, her mind working once again to put the words in her mind together in a sentence.

"Are you guys really going to help me find my family? Do you guys really care that much?" Her eyes had shifted away from his jaws, meeting his eyes with a firm gaze. Vector's eyes moved from her to me, and his eyebrows twitched upward slightly, as if he were asking where this started from.

"I'm a man of my word, Midnight." He finally replied. "I'm going to do everything in my power to help." His lips moved into a large, warm smile. "And yes, we do care of you, every one of us. Don't let anyone tell you different."

Everyone had just finished lunch, courtesy of Vector, and we sat around in the living room, trying to decide what we were going to do for the day. Midnight, who was in much higher spirits, was sitting between Charmy and I, listening as Charmy chattered on about a nightmare she had, humoring him with the occasional look of shock or to ask him what happened next. Charmy, looking pleased with himself for being such a good story teller would continue every time she asked him to.

When Charmy had finished his story, he zoomed away eagerly when Midnight asked him to bring her sword to her, claiming she never felt safe without it. Amy was smiling at her now.

"You have a way with kids." She commented when she was sure Charmy was out of earshot. "I don't think Charmy has ever even told Espio or Vector about a nightmare, and they're like his family." Midnight responded with a slight shrug.

"I worked with a lot of kids in a foster care program. It's a natural thing for me."

Just then, Tails' computer screen turned on by itself, and the haunting form of Eggman appeared, laughing manically as he always did.

"Well, well, well! I never suspected Midnight would find herself in the open arms of Sonic and his team!" Midnight was shrinking back from the screen, wolf ears folded down against her head in fear. She pressed closer to me, and I could feel her shaking slightly with fear. With all the things he's done to her, I could imagine why she'd show such fear.

"Eggman!" Shadow cried, glaring at the screen. If looks could kill, Eggman would be dead like we all thought he was. "What do you want from her?" He was standing now, facing the screen, his crimson eyes reflecting the blue-ish tint of the computer screen. Eggman began to laugh again as he looked down his nose at Shadow, smirking defiantly.

"And what do we have here? The hedgehog who claimed to have _killed_ me!" He laughed harder, and the laughter of his robots echoed in monotone behind him. "She knows what I want, and she's not avoiding my control forever!" He had turned his head slightly to get a better look at Midnight, who was trying her hardest to look strong, but was still pressed against me for support.

"Is my family still alive?" Her voice was strong, which amazed me under the circumstances. Eggman had stopped laughing at Shadow now, and was watching her carefully.

"See for yourself." He said smugly as he stepped aside, showing everyone I saw in the picture sitting in cages, pitifully huddled together, bloody. Midnight gasped, eyes watering as she stepped closer on shaky legs. "Daddy… Louie… Nick… HotShot… Absol… Luna…" Her voice was weak now as she let out a choked whimper.

"Middy…" It was Auron who was speaking. He was standing, grasping the bars of the fence to support him. "Don't give into his demands… It's not worth it… It's all or nothing. We aren't going to take freedom in exchange for yours." His voice was deep like mine, strong, and proud.

"Daddy…" She whimpered, tears now dripping down her cheeks. "I won't let you die… I'll take the fall." She paused, wiping away her tears "Your six lives are worth more than my one."

Before Auron, or anyone else for that matter, could protest, Eggman stepped back into view, his bulk completely blocking view of Auron. "Well, Midnight, I'll make a deal with you, only because I'm feeling _generous_. Come to my Egg Base within the next two weeks and I'll free your whole family!" He paused, allowing an evil smirk to reappear on his lips. "But remember, every day you hesitate, your family will not be getting meals… Your time is based off how long they survive. If they all die before you come, I will kill all your friends and you too." And the screen clicked off, leaving us all to stare in shock.

"Daddy…" She whimpered again, nearly falling forward until she caught herself on the desk and used it for support. Tears were falling from her eyes and splattering on the desk, and she didn't move to brush them away. "It's all my fault." She whispered to herself, shaking her head sadly. Charmy, who had taken quite a while in my room, come back with Midnight's sword in hand, and looked at all of us in surprise.

"You guys look like you've seen a ghost or something…" He said, confused. Shadow let out a cold laugh at this comment, and clenched his fists.

"We did. Eggman's ghost. Only it was still living…" He spat. I could have sworn his eyes darkened a shade. Charmy gasped, and as Midnight began to cry harder, he zoomed over and hugged her around her neck.

"Midnight, what's wrong?!" He asked, worried.

"It's all my fault…" That was all she managed to say before her crying made everything else she mumbled impossible to understand. Charmy clung to her neck supportively, allowing the sword to dangle over his shoulder limply. He understood what she meant; she thought it was her fault that her family was suffering.

Slowly, he led her back to the couch, where she sunk hard onto it with a grunt. Charmy put her sword down by her feet and sat down next to her, now holding her hand. The sight reminded me of a mother and child. Almost. It was fifteen minutes until I could finally calm her down to the point we could understand what she was saying.

"What are we going to do?" She asked, and Vector answered as if on cue.

"We're all going to go to the Egg Base and defeat Eggman once and for all, and save your family." Everyone murmured their agreement, and Midnight smiled slightly, looking down at the sword that she was now clutching in both hands. The sheathe was the only thing keeping the blade from piercing her skin, for she had a vice-grip on it.

"Thanks." She said quietly, unable to think of anything else to say. As everyone gathered around the table to begin a battle plan, Midnight, Amy and I stayed in the living room. There was silence between us. Midnight was not up to talking, and Amy and I didn't want to push her. I mean, look at her; she's gone through so much. Tails would occasionally glance over his shoulder at her, worried about her D-I-D or whatever it was called.

Amy shot me glances occasionally and then looked at Midnight. I knew what she was telling me, but I pretended I didn't. She didn't know what I knew about Midnight. If she did, maybe she'd stop pushing it so hard. Finally, after I continued to pretend I had no clue what she was talking about, she mouthed out clearly, _'Tell her, or I will.'_ And the last thing I wanted was for her to spill the secret. It might as well be from me if it had to happen.

"Midnight, can I talk to you… Uh… Privately?" I asked, getting to my feet. Midnight hesitated at first, but I held my hand out to help her out, and she accepted, probably deciding it wouldn't hurt to talk to someone she trusts. Or at least, that's what I hope she was thinking.

As we slipped out of earshot of the gang, we stopped, and stared at each other for a moment. I had no clue what I was doing, or how I'd do it. All I knew was I had to do it, somehow, someway.

"Midnight, I know… You've been through a lot… But…" I could still turn back. I hadn't said it yet. I could just bullshit my way out of this. Was I even ready for a commitment like this? Her emerald eyes were locked into mine, intently gazing, waiting for me to finish. Just the soft look in those eyes told me I was doing the right thing. "I love you." I said, hurriedly. Midnight continued to stare for a moment, bewildered at the forwardness of the gesture, but she grasped my hand gently, a smile gently pulling at her lips.

"I love you too, Espio." She whispered, before leaning forward, standing on her toes, to press her lips to mine. It was a simple kiss, but it meant so much more then I thought. That was it. That was the end of these games. We were in love. We're together now.

Together.

**Author's Notes-**

**1-****O****H MY GOD, HE DID IT! Ha-ha, so glad I did that now, so it doesn't get in the way of all the action and drama and stuff.**

**2- Does anyone else feel sorry for poor Midnight? Eggman is such an ass. ****xD**

**3- Uh, don't forget to review! That's the reason this chapter came so quickly. I had motivation and a lot of free time. LOTS.**

**4- Chapter 7 should be quick too. And probably long…**

**xoxo**

**Midnight**


	7. Egg Base

**Author's Notes-**

**1-****I ****forgot to mention the last chapter that I do not own any Sonic Team characters. Only the ones who aren't referred to in any games, TV shows, comic, etc.**

**2- Response to TheOnlySaneOne- I only said ****snickerdoodles**** because that's the cookie I'm best at making. I make them like, ALL the time. But thanks for putting me on your pro, I luff you for it! –hands her a Sonic plushy-**

**3- Enjoy! This was a fun chapter to do.**

Chapter 7

Egg Base

_Days Left: 13_

With this new found relationship between Midnight and I came the new found awkward moments. The first night we were 'together' was incredibly awkward when we were finally winding down to go to sleep. As everyone began to head towards their rooms, Midnight would shoot me glances that said 'Don't get any ideas tonight' and I would nod in response.

The next morning when I woke up, Midnight was pressed against me for warmth, but her eyes were open. Glancing over at the clock, I was shocked to see it was noon already. Sitting up swiftly, Midnight flinched. Looking down at her, she smiled up at me weakly.

"Morning sleepy-head." She murmured softly in a sing-song tone. Groggily, I wiped my eyes, and slowly sunk back into the bed, smiling. As we lay next to each other, I pondered when I had ever been this happy. Maybe when Vector, Charmy and I first got together as Team Chaotix. Maybe. With a gentle hand, I brushed her bangs out of her eyes, and she responded with a slightly larger smile. "Sleep well?"

"Does sleeping 'till noon count as 'sleeping well'?" I retorted jokingly, and she chuckled softly. Scooting just a little closer, she pressed her lips to my cheek, and then sunk back into her original position. I didn't want to move from this spot. Not now. Not ever.

But Midnight looked worried. Today, we were all going to the Egg Base, just to get a basic idea of what it looked like, and what kind of security. Midnight and I had debated whether she should go. I thought she shouldn't, in case we got caught and Eggman didn't keep his side of the deal and held all of Midnight's family, her included, in captivity. Midnight argued she should have an idea of what her family's prison looked like, and what she would need to do when we got in there.

She had a logical point, I kept telling myself, but I still worried for her safety overall. The debate had ended bitterly before we fell asleep, she wasn't going, and it took a lot of apologies and reasoning later that night so she didn't sleep on bitter thoughts and wake up angry the next morning. That was never a good way to start in the morning.

"I think we should get up," She said softly, as she rested her shoulder against mine. I groaned. That was the exact opposite of what I wanted to do, but I finally forced myself to sit upright. I was shirtless, only wearing a pair of boxers.

The window was open on the other side of the room, sending a cold breeze in to meet my bare skin, and I shivered. Getting out of bed quickly, I yanked a shirt on and turned to face Midnight. She had merely rolled over to lie in the warm spot where my body had been only moments before, on her stomach. As she craned her neck forward to bury her face in the pillow I was using, I noticed something. She had no shirt on, or a bra. Looking away to respect her privacy, I blushed.

It didn't help much though, because now her form was reflected in the mirror. Either she didn't realize she was topless, or she didn't care, because she sat up and faced me, exposing her uncovered torso.

"Espi, what's wrong?" She asked, looking at me. I crossed my arms tightly over my chest, closing my eyes, nervous. It's difficult not to stare. I didn't say anything at first, wondering if she'd realize it, but when she continued to wait for an answer, I decided to say it.

"You're topless?" It came out as more of a question than a statement. She giggled at this comment, and shook her head slowly, amused by my sense of privacy.

"Espio, sweetheart," She paused, letting the last word sink in a little before she continued, "I've lived with guys all my life, except Luna, who was hardly home. I'm used to no privacy, and I'm used to guys staring." Well, so much for being modest.

"You sure?" I said, opening one eye. She approached me and wrapped her arms around me, her bare chest pressed against me. I could have sworn the coil of my tail curled tighter. She was smiling.

"Positive." She said, as she let go of me. She wandered over to her bags, and quickly pulled on a bra and a t-shirt, before turning to head out the door. "You know," she said as she brushed against me, the fur of her wolf tail brushing against the coil of my tail. "You're really cute when you blush." And she left, leaving me to stare at the door she closed behind her.

Standing outside the Egg Base, Knuckles, Shadow, Sonic, Amy, Tails, Vector, Charmy, and I looked up in awe. It towered over us greatly, blocking out the sun behind it. Painted directly on the front of the building was Eggman's symbol, which stuck out from the building, which was entirely black, almost painfully. Armies of robots stood outside each entrance, and in front of each window. They came and went every 15 minutes, leaving the main door open long enough for once of to slip through.

Of course, like usual, that someone was me. Only because I could become completely invisible and I moved around silently. What would they do without me, in cases like these? Completely invisible, I stood in the middle of the group of robots who stood in silent vigil outside the door. As the bell sounded for the doors to open, I bolted in, silent as always, and flung myself against the wall across the hall, clinging to it as I watched the robots moving below me.

There were countless robots, half of which were walking left, half of which were walking right. Between the two groups, Eggman passed freely, looking as though he were thinking. Silently I scaled the wall to keep pace with him, hoping he'd lead me to Midnight's family. I took note of every turn we took, and what to look for something distinct to tell me I was on the right path. Eggman walked on for what seemed like hours, passing through the labyrinth of corridors like he had a map of them all in front of him.

Finally, he halted at two metal double doors. Moving closer, I saw him type in a code to the door. '3631'. I had to remember that. Scrambling to get through the door before it closed behind him, I only barely made it. Inside was the room we saw on the screen, with Midnight's family cowering in the large cage in the center, huddled together for support. Eggman laughed as he looked down at them.

"Midnight still hasn't shown up." He stated through his laughter. Auron growled, sitting in the front of the group, scowling.

"What do you want from her? What did we do to deserve this treatment?" He wanted answered. I could hear the desperation in his voice. Eggman heard it too, probably, but didn't acknowledge it as he shifted towards a large swivel chair, turning it to face the cage before sitting down in it. It groaned loudly in response; it was probably not made to hold such weight.

"I want her powers under my control." He growled, leaning back in the chair. He let out a soft, comfortable moan, just gloating about the fact that he had something comfortable to sit on while the rest sat on the cold, hard floor. "And you are the perfect bait to lure her in. Now shut up and stop asking questions!" He snapped. He stared at them for a long moment, then something equivalent to remorse stretched across his face. "If you see anyone unfamiliar and tell me, I'll give you a meal." And with that said, he heaved himself out of the chair and exited the room.

Auron sank back against his family with a defeated sigh. I wondered how long they had been starved like this. Unlike the healthy figures standing in the picture I saw yesterday, they were scraggy and run-down, their clothes hanging off their thinning bodies as thought they were five sizes too large. Silently dropping from the ceiling, I approached the cage to listen to the conversation. They were speaking entirely Spanish, except for Absol, who could understand it, but not speak it.

"I'm worried about Midnight too…" He murmured softly, leaning against the metal bars with a frown. "I wish I knew she were okay…"

I knew how big a risk it was to show myself, but the worry in Absol's voice drove me to become visible once more. The family at first didn't notice me until HotShot pointed at me and shouted something in Spanish. Auron got to his feet defensively; ready to defend his family from any threat. He stared at me for a long moment, and then began to yell, "Doctor Eggman! Intruder!" That was bad.

"No! Stop! I'm a friend of Midnight's!" I whispered, showing my hands in a sign of surrender. The name Midnight cause Auron to cease yelling, staring at me with wide eyes.

"Who are you?" His voice was shaky as it passed his lips, and he forced it to be quiet.

"_What_ are you?" HotShot snarled, looking at me with wide orange eyes. Okay, given, I'm a chameleon, and they're humans, which would cause at least _some_ tension and suspicions, but seriously now, do they have to insult the guy taking care of a family member? I ignored HotShot's comment, my eyes locked into the emerald shade of Auron's. Within the worry that shaded them, the same spark of pride that he showed yesterday glimmered.

"My name is Espio." I murmured as I took a step closer to the cage. "I'm one of the group that took Midnight in." Auron looked at me for a long moment, and then relaxed his tense muscles, deciding I was no longer a threat.

"How is she?" He asked, leaning against the bars of the cage for support, grasping the cold metal in his hands. The desperation in his voice echoed clearly, and it almost hurt to listen to it. I could probably imagine how he was feeling. If Charmy or Vector, or now even Midnight, fell in harm's way, I wouldn't stop until I knew that they were okay.

"She's fine." I said reassuringly. My hands moved from my sides to the bag behind me Midnight had given me, which had some fruit to give them if I found them. Pulling the bag off my back, I pulled out the fruit and slipped it between the bars of the cage. "Midnight told me to give this to you." Auron took the fruit in careful hands and gave it to the rest of his family before he accepted his own piece. Hungrily, they ate, and I pulled out the paper bag Midnight gave me to take the remnants.

"Thank you." Auron whispered, his voice echoing now gratitude. A small smile slipped across my lips and I nodded in response. Now I had to leave. I was running out of time. Eggman could be on his way if he heard Auron's call, and the last thing I needed was to get caught.

"I have to go." I whispered. Auron nodded, and the rest waved. As I turned around, the doors opened, and the large form of Eggman appeared in the doorway. I froze up, my mind blanked out as Eggman stared at me for a moment, as if trying to remember who I was.

"Espio!" He finally yelled out. I tensed slightly. So far, I couldn't sense the arrival of any robots, and I knew Eggman wouldn't chase me himself. "I've heard a lot about you, my dear chameleon friend. It seems you're another one of the desperate males to win Midnight's heart?" How the hell would he know something like that? Behind me, I heard someone scoff, and HotShot muttered darkly under his breath.

"Midnight wouldn't fall in love with a freak like that."

It was all I could do but say she had in fact fallen in love with me, just to prove him wrong, but I knew if I did say that, it would be taping a billboard to my head that said 'Bait'. I rolled my eyes at Eggman, just to look like I didn't care about Midnight. "Well, whoever your source was, they were wrong." I mumbled, eyes never leaving Eggman's form, senses aware and listening for the sounds of robots running closer.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure, Espio." Eggman said, matter-of-factly. "He's quite reliable. In fact, he tells me you two are in love." HotShot scoffed louder this time, now muttering something in Spanish. I shrugged my shoulders in response.

"He's wrong." I said. Now my eyes left their target and looked to the window. We were still on the first floor, luckily, so that would have to be my escape route. I looked back to him with a defiant glare. He was smirking, so sure that he was correct that he wouldn't take no for an answer. Now I could hear the quiet steps of the marching robots, and I stepped back slightly.

"Seize him!" Eggman cried as soon as the robots came to the door. An alarm was triggered, and soon red lights were flashing and bells were going off. Turning invisible, I pelted across the room, going as fast as my feet would carry me, and crashing through the window. The shards of glass embedded in my skin, but I did not notice them until I was sprinting away from the building, towards the trees were the rest of the group was waiting. "Don't let him get away!" Eggman was shouting. Robots were pouring out of the window I just broke through, looking around for any movement that would give away my location. As I broke the tree-line, I slowed down so I came to a halt in front of Vector. Now visible, I panted, blood pouring from the numerous gashes on my body.

Shadow's gaze was locked onto the building, where robots were looking around in confusion, as Eggman shouted more orders. The alarms were slowly disengaged, one by one, until silence stretched among the clearing and in the forest. Only then did he look over to me. "What the hell happened?" He asked.

"I got caught and chased." I said through breathes. "I had to leap through a window because I was closed in." I didn't bother to brush away the fragments of shattered glass, or to even look at the wounds. All I wanted to do was get home. To make sure Midnight was alright.

"No shit, Sherlock." Sonic muttered sarcastically. "How?"

"Eggman… He told her family if they shouted when intruders were there, he'd give them food."

"But how did they see you?" Amy inquired, looking confused.

"I became visible." I replied, now realizing how stupid it was. "I had to tell them Midnight was alright and…" I let the bag slide gently from my shoulders, stinging the wounds on my arms on the way down, and it thumped to the ground, the remnants of the food spilling out onto the ground. "Midnight told me to give them this, so I did." There was a long pause, and finally Vector snapped.

"You could have gotten yourself killed!" He cried, looking like he wanted to smack some sense into me. I might need it. I said nothing, but picked up the bag, not bothering with the remnants of the fruit. The birds could deal with that. Carefully sliding the bag onto my shoulders, I began to walk away, and finally the group followed suit.

We hesitated as we stood outside the headquarters. We didn't really have a reason to hesitate, but we did anyways. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and walked in. Midnight was sitting in the kitchen, a book in her hands. The whole house smelled of baked goods, and as we looked around, it was completely spotless. Midnight looked up as people began to murmur about the changes, and stared at me in shock. Apparently, the cuts were more noticeable than the group let on.

"Espio! What happened? Are you okay?" She exclaimed, jumping to her feet and coming to my side. As I took the bag off, she threw it next to the desk with the computer, and led me into the kitchen. Everyone took a seat on the couch, admiring the cleanness of the house, while she patched up the larger cuts on my arms and neck. As she did so, I explained everything that happened, and everything that was said. She paused for a long moment, and then spoke.

"Don't mind HotShot, he's as stubborn as a mule about me falling in love…" She allowed her words to trail off as we took our seat in the living room. Charmy zoomed over to Midnight's other side, and flopped down on the couch.

"The house smells great Midnight!" He cried! "It smells like sugar cookies!" He was right. It smelt like sugar cookies and chocolate cake. Just the smell made my mouth water.

"Well, that's what I made. They're in the oven now!" She giggled, stroking his head. "Though telling by you, I doubt you need the extra sugar." She said, and Charmy blushed and response and laughed. "So who wants to eat? I made more than just sweets you know!"

With full stomachs and tired muscles, we all retired to our beds early, deciding that we had done a lot for the day and that we deserved a good rest. Midnight and I were the last ones to head to bed, and as we walked down the hall way, I looped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, so we were walking with our hips pressed together. Entering the room, Midnight immediately got in on her side of the bed, and then peeled her shirt and bra off like she had the night before. Yanking my shirt off, I slid in beside her, and for a moment, we just lay next to each other, looking into each other's eyes.

So lost in my thoughts, I didn't realize she had moved closer, and suddenly she pressed her lips to mine. At first, I wasn't surprised by the kiss, until she pulled her arms around my neck to further it. What had driven her to do this, I didn't know or even want to question in, but I was enjoying it all the same.

Her eyes slowly closed as we stayed pressed together, and finally I decided to make a move. I lay a hand on her thigh, slowly stroking it as my tongue ran against her lips, begging for entrance. She chuckled softly, opening her lips to comply, and I began to explore the depths of her mouth. Her tongue then pressed against mine, and they began to rage war against each other. She tasted sweeter than I imagined. My hand was still rubbing her thigh carefully, being careful to avoid any cuts she had.

We finally separated for a gasp of air. My hand was still placed on her thigh, but had stopped moving right at her hip. She moved one hand to place it on top of mine, and the other she used to pull a pillow under her head. With a soft smile, she closed her eyes, and squeezed my hand gently. She was done for the night, to my dismay, but I didn't push it. Pressing my lips to her forehead, I closed my eyes as well, and we both drifted off into sleep.

**Author's Notes-**

**1-**** Ha-ha-ha, did you think that was going to turn into a lemon? Nope. Maybe next chapter or the one after that. I haven't decided. **

**2- Le gasp! Espio almost got caught by Eggman. Auron is stupid sometimes, don't you think?**

**3- Eh, this was fun to type, but I'm sort of… ****Bleh****… On how it turned out. Not as good as I thought, but maybe I'm just being my own worst critic again. Tell me what you guys think.**

**4- Don't forget to review! More snicker doodles for reviews!**

**xoxo**

**Midnight**


	8. I'll Cross That Bridge When I Get To It

**Author's Notes-**

**1- I'm going to be very clear with this. This chapter is one of the main reasons it is Rated M. Sexual activity. I marked when it begins and when it ends with '----' at the beginning of the first paragraph and at the end of the last. Not mature enough to read it? Then don't.**

Chapter 8

I'll Cross That Bridge When I Get To It

_Days Left: 10_

"We've been going over the plan for three days now! Let's stop talking about and actually do it!" Midnight snarled through gritted teeth as she, Vector, Sonic, Tails and I were bent over a blueprint of the Egg Base, discussing how we were going to do it. I was starting to agree with Midnight now; the excessive discussion over the same plan was getting rather old, and we had about 15 'Plan B's' for back-ups, all of which I had completely forgotten each time we made a new one.

"Until you can memorize each plan step-by-step, we will continue practicing!" Vector snapped back, his dark eyes scanning over the map once again. On the blueprints, I had traced the path that Eggman had taken me on. Many people asked me to think it over, for it twisted over itself numerous times, but my memory was one of the things I prided myself in.

Midnight threw her hands down to her sides in frustration and stomped away towards the living room, where Amy, Charmy and Shadow sat in silence. She flopped down on the couch; arms crossed over her chest, and glowered at the floor. I thought she might just burn a hole through the floor with the glare she was shooting at it. No one tried to comfort her, afraid of what her angrier self could do. Vector shot me a side-ways glance, his cue of 'Calm-her-down'. With a sigh, I walked over and sat down next to her.

"Midnight…" I said softly, grasping one of her hands, which was tense, in both of mine. "I know you're worried about your family, but if you forget part of the plan and something goes wrong, you might get hurt." She didn't move as I used my other hand to gently stroke her cheek with the back of one finger. "And I don't want to see that happen." I said gently. Midnight jerked her hands away from mine and turned away, eyes darkening a shade as she tenses completely.

"I won't forget." She mutters darkly, glaring at the floor again. "Stop thinking I'm going to."

"No one's perfect." I said soothingly, trying again to grasp one of her hands. She allows it this time, but one more screw up and I'm done. "And I don't think you would intentionally, but everyone makes mistakes. So we need to rehearse the back-up plans as well." Slowly, the tension in her hands released, and she relaxed completely. "Please Midnight, I wouldn't ask this of you if I wasn't worried about you. I just want to be sure you'll be as safe as we can possibly make you." Now she turned to face me, her eyes expressionless.

"I'm only doing it for your sanity." She muttered as she got to her feet and walked back to the table, placed her hands on the bottom edges of the blueprint, and scanned through the path as Vector recited each plan. Amy shot me a 'Good Job' look, and I nodded a thanks, but said nothing.

We ate a small dinner and sat down in the living room. Silence spread between us as we lounged, everyone thinking of something different. Shadow, who was usually so calm and collected when it came to these criminal-master-plans-and-how-to-carry-them-out, was looking from side to side nervously, and shot down everyone's glances with darkened glare. He hasn't been acting right since we went to the Egg Base. He flinches with every touch, and continuously looks over his shoulder like the Devil was going to appear and drag him under. Every time we ask what's wrong, he doesn't respond, but glares at us until finally we drop the subject.

The silence stretched between all of us as the clock in the kitchen ticked on. Everyone seemed to be watching Midnight, probably worried about how she was reacting to all this trauma and stress with her DID, or whatever it was called. She was bobbing her foot absentmindedly, her eyes locked onto something I couldn't see, as she murmured every part of the plan she could remember. This down time was unusual for us, because usually someone was talking.

Then there was a thump at the door. Shadow sprung so far out of his seat he was standing, and he decided to get the door to look less suspicious. Opening the door, something fell into the room, and Shadow stared down at it in shock. Midnight got up to see what was going on, and why nothing was being said, and she saw it.

It was a body.

Midnight clamped a hand over her mouth as she let out a strangled cry. She dropped to her knees by the body, brushing a lock of long brown hair out of the face of the dead girl. It was Luna, Midnight's sister. She began to sob wordlessly as she continued to scan over the girl's form. Something was crumpled up in her hand, a note of some sort. I got up from my seat and walked over to Midnight, crouching down next to her and draping an arm over her shoulder.

"At least..." I murmured gently, "She's no longer suffering because of Eggman." It was a stretch, I know, but it seemed to have some affect, because Midnight uncovered her mouth to respond.

"But why kill her?" She whimpered, pointing towards her sister's chest where there was a large stab wound, which probably pierced straight through her heart. Eggman was growing impatient with us, and now he was showing signs that he was not to screw with his patience. She began to sob again, and slowly slipped her hand forward and pulled the note from her sister's dead hand. On it, there was something scribbled, illegible to Midnight because her eyes were watering too bad. I lifted a hand and gently brushed the tears from her eyes, and in a choked voice, she read aloud so everyone could hear.

"She was asking for it. You better hurry Midnight, your family is losing numbers."

Simple, but threatening. Midnight's hand clenched the note firmly, and she fought to keep a muzzle on her emotions. But she was losing. She fell forward slightly, her hands placed right above Luna's shoulders as she steadied herself. Tears fell freely from her eyes and onto Luna's pale skin. All the color, as well as life, had been drained from her face with the one stab to the heart. I knew Eggman was heartless, but this is just excessive and unnecessary means of getting one's message clear. Luna's eyes were still open, and the shock of Eggman or one of his robots coming at her with a blade of some sort drawn was still easily read.

"Luna..." Midnight whispered faintly through her tears. Her eyes were directly burning through Luna's, and I instinctively lifted a hand and closed her eyelids over her lifeless gaze. If it wasn't for the stab wound so distinctly showing on the girl's chest, she could be mistaken for someone who had fallen asleep.

Now Midnight turned and leaned against me, burying her face in my chest as the tears continued to pour. I felt so helpless in this situation, but I did my best to comfort her; it was the very least I could do for her. I wrapped my arms around her carefully, and rested my chin on her shoulder. I pulled her up to stand and lead her to the couch, where Charmy and Amy hugged her too. Sonic, ears slopped downward to show his sorrow, let out a slow sigh. Tails was sniffling a little as he looked down at the girl sadly, and Vector looked down at her as he shook his head.

"It's always the innocent ones." He murmured. Shadow was the only one who didn't show sorrow or even pity. He just looked a little more nervous.

Minutes passed as Midnight slowly began to calm down. Charmy zoomed away to get her a box of tissues as she sat back in her seat, eyes bloodshot and puffy from crying. She didn't dare look down at the dead body of her sister, because every time she did, she would begin to cry again. Vector had left the room and taken the body outside to bury it. "We might as well hold a funeral for her" He had muttered as he carefully picked up the girl and took her away as Midnight began to cry.

"I can't believe she's gone." Midnight whimpered. She then smiled slightly, as though she were recollecting an old memory. "Now she can never tell that boy at school she liked him." She murmured, to herself mostly. She let out a slight chuckle at the thought, and blew her nose in the tissue Charmy came back with. He then set the box down in front of her, and sat down next to her. She sighed softly, closing her eyes as she tried to forget it all.

"We'll get him for this Midnight." Sonic said firmly. There were murmurs of agreements from everyone else. At the time, we probably didn't know what we were dealing with when we said that, but we were going to stand by it anyways.

The rest of the day was a numbing blur as we held a funeral service for Luna. Midnight spoke about how good of a sister she was, and some of the fun times she had had with her. As we came back in the house, Midnight had leaned on me for the emotional support she needed through these times, and I willingly gave it to her. Occasionally she would shoot me a grateful smile, and I'd smile back, but it would soon fade as the realization that the rest of her family was in danger would sink in.

That night, Midnight had taken an hour long shower; probably just letting the hot water run down her body and slightly sooth the pain. When she opened the door, steam rolled out behind her, and her skin was slightly red. I knew she had used the hottest water the shower could provide. Painful.

As she lay next to me in bed, we lay facing each other like we always did. The lights were off, the crickets were quietly chirping outside, behind the open window. Midnight laid there silently, her mind apparently on other things. I could see the worry in her eyes obviously, but there was something else in there too. As she gazed up in down my form, what appeared to be lust was reflected in the emerald depths of her eyes. If it wasn't for all the events of today, I would have openly taken the opportunity to do something with her, but I was afraid that having sex on her sister's death day was not exactly the right thing to do.

But she seemed to want it. Badly. She moved closer to me like she had the first night of us being together, and pressed her lips to mine. Instantly, I pressed my tongue to her lips, begging for entrance, and she complied. We explored each other's mouths for a while, tongues raging a heated war, until her hand moved away from my neck and slid down to my waist. Holy shit, what was she doing?

**----**We didn't break away from the kiss as her hands slowly slid beneath the fabric of my boxers. I blinked slightly, taken back by her sudden moves, but shifted to match her pace, sliding one hand under her shirt and bra and caress her nipple. I wonder why she was wearing her shirt and bra tonight. Maybe the stress of today had made that detail slip from her mind. I was taken out of these thoughts as her hand found my erection and gave a gentle squeeze.

Oh my god, she was moving fast for all the trauma she was under.

I pulled off her shirt with one hand as I continued to caress her breasts, my fingers slowly tracing each nipple. She gave a moan of pleasure at the gesture, and gave another gentle squeeze to my erection, urging me on. I undid her bra, pulling it off so I had full range of her breasts. It was an instinctive move on my part, for I leaned forward and pressed my lips to one of her nipples, tongue slowly rolling over it. She moaned again, and yanked my boxers off with one jerk. Now I was completely naked.

Pulling away from her breast to kiss her passionately again, I flipped so that I was on top of her, hands placed on her shoulders as I lowered my lips to hers, the war continuing between our tongues. Slowly moving one hand to the bed beneath her and one hand to her pajama bottoms, I got them off her easily. Moving down from her lips to her neck, my tongue rolled over her smooth skin as I jerked off her panties. Now we were both naked. I pulled away from her, just to get a look at her body.

Beauty of a sex goddess.

Midnight looked up at me with anticipation, slowly parting her legs to grant me entrance. I hesitated for a moment, my eyes locked into hers. She was panting slightly, her chest rising and falling quickly with each breath. I found that my breathing was heavy as well, probably from all the air we lost in our kisses. Still hesitating, I found my voice, which was shaky with anticipation.

"This... This might hurt..." I whispered. She said nothing, but nodded slightly to note that she acknowledged what I said and that she was ready. Positioning myself to inflict the least possible pain, I pressed my manhood into her moist opening. Her eyes closed as she let out a soft moan. I was inside her now. There was no turning back. Positioning my hands to straddle her hips, I begin to thrust slowly. With each thrust, she let out another moan, and after a few times, she let out a soft gasping word.

"Harder..." She gasped, her eyes snapping open to look at me. "Faster." She moaned. I obeyed, quickening my pace and strength, until the bed seemed to be rocking under the effort. It was a few minutes she her moans became a little louder. Mine were too.

"Midnight..." I breathed, not stopping the pace we started. "I... think.. I'm going to.." I didn't even finish my statement before I released, moaning her name as I came to a stand-still. She let out a louder moan this time, releasing as well, and released her fists. I exited her opening and lay back down beside her, too tired to give a damn if anyone heard.

"I love you..." She whispered softly, pressing her naked body against mine. I eased my arms around her body and held her close, resting my chin on the top her head as we steadied our breathing.

"I love you too, Midnight..." I murmured back, and we then fell asleep, my arms still wrapped around her.**-----**

_Days Left: 9_

I awoke to the sound of whispering outside my door. Opening one eye slowly, I peered at the clock on the night stand. It was 11 am. My first thought was to ignore the voices and go back to sleep, but I caught myself straining to hear them better. It was Sonic, Amy, and Vector.

"They were doing _what_ now?" That was Vector's voice. He sounded surprised by something, or disgusted. I couldn't tell which by the amount I was hearing. I sat up slightly to hear a response.

"Having sex, no doubt." Sonic replied, sounding firm, and almost a little jealous. It took me a moment to figure out what they were talking about, until I glanced down at Midnight, who was still asleep. She was completely naked. At the sight, all the memories of last night came flooding back to me, and I realized that Sonic and Amy must have heard us. Shit, we have _a lot_ of explaining to do.

"If they were trying to hide it, they weren't doing a very good job of it." Amy added, sounding completely disgusted by it all. I sunk back into the bed, now feeling a little embarrassed. We were so busted. Vector was going to skin us alive, and now everyone was going to find out sooner or later. I let out a slow sigh, and a moment later Midnight opened her eyes. It took her a moment as well to figure out why we were both completely naked, but once she remembered, a mischevious smile slipped across her lips as she ran her hand down my neck and stopped at my chest.

"Morning, handsome." She murmured softly, aware of the voices outside the room, so she kept her voice down. I flashed a smile in her direction before grabbing the boxers at the foot of the bed and pulling them on. Midnight did the same, hooking her bra back on and pulling her underwear on slowly. She moved with the slightest of limps, probably a little bit tender in her 'area' from last night. Tugging on a t-shirt and jeans, I got dressed as well, and we both opened the door, to see Vector, Amy, and Sonic still standing outside.

"Good morning." Vector said stiffly, then grabbed my arm. "Can I talk with you for a sec?" And without waiting for a response, he jerked me down the stairs and into his room, where he slammed the door behind him and turned slowly towards me. "Is Sonic and Amy telling the truth?" He asked quickly, not even trying to take this reasonably. I decided to play dumb, just so I could stall having to explain my sex-life to my nosy best friend.

"About what?" I asked, sounding pretty convincing. But Vector wouldn't buy it.

"To hell you don't know what I'm talking about!" He snapped, his eyes lit up with anger. "You were _fucking _Midnight last night, you stupid bastard." With extra emphasis on 'fucking', he said this through gritted teeth, not saying it loud enough for everyone to hear in the house. I looked away, embarrassed.

"Yeah? So what?" I mumbled.

"Espio!" He growled, "You've only known her for _five days_. And you'veonly been together for _four_." He paused for a moment to let it sink in before he continued. "And to do it on the night her sister died? What has gotten into you?!" He didn't wait for an answer as he continued to rant. "Do you have any idea what you're going to do if she turns up pregnant?"

"Hey, I wasn't forcing anything on her, she wanted it!" I snapped back. "And I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, Vector, now get the hell out of my love life just because you don't have your own!" And with that, I stomped past him and slammed the door shut behind me. I didn't hear any movement inside his room, or even a single sound as I walked away.

**Author's Notes-**

**1- Holy cow, that was awkward to write. Especially when my mom kept coming and going out of the room in the middle of the lemon. I had to minimize the screen since she has a nasty habit of reading over my shoulder.**

**2- I almost had to quit this story because my Microsoft Word stopped working and I didn't have anything else, but with some help from my friend Gabby, we fixed the problem. Yay to Gabby.**

**3- Mmm. Review. I know a LOT of the chapter was a lemon, but there was still some interesting parts in the top to comment on ;;;;**

**xoxo,**

**Midnight**


	9. The Prophecy

**Author's Notes-**

**1- You can not imagine how fun this chapter was to write. I just _couldn't stop_. But I had to, because it was bed time!**

**2- Enjoy!**

Chapter 9

The Prophecy

_Days Left: 8_

The entire length of yesterday was mostly spent in my room with Midnight. We didn't really talk as much as we just enjoyed each other's company. It seemed that everyone found out what Midnight and I had _done_ last night, so everyone mainly avoided entering the room, except Charmy would occasionally enter to see if we wanted something to eat. We both declined, no matter how much our stomachs growled in protest.

That night had been like any other. No sex. Just laying next to each other and slowly slipped into a deep slumber. Midnight had not been in the mood for anything else, and I felt that if we did in fact do it again, the tension between Vector and I would only grow stronger.

Speaking of Vector. I let what he asked me earlier sink beneath my skin. What would I do if Midnight got pregnant? I didn't know how to be a father seeing as I never really had one, with the exception of Vector, who acted like a boss of Team Chaotix at some times, and other times we was nothing but a father helping his children grow.

My heart seemed to sink at this thought as I remembered what I had said to him when he confronted me about it, and I realized how wrong of me it was to point out that he was still single. With Team Chaotix's constant case load, and now Midnight's arrival, we hardly had the time to breath for ourselves, let alone find the perfect girl to settle our needs. I had been lucky that Midnight chose me, and I just slapped that message right across Vector's face.

The next morning I awoke to find Midnight had already woke and left the room, probably to find something to eat, and I decided I should apologize to Vector for what I said. With a grunt, I hoisted myself out of the bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. As I yanked the hood of the sweatshirt down, I looked out the window. There was a thick blanket of snow on the ground. Amidst the snow was a circle of rocks that lined Luna's grave, barely jutting out of the vast white as the snow continued to fall.

Exiting my room, I heard the front door close with a loud thump. As I came down the stairs, everyone but Midnight sat in the living room. When Vector first saw me, he looked away bitterly, deciding to ignore my existence, then got up and headed to the kitchen. Following him carefully, he began to pour mugs of hot chocolate, and Charmy buzzed impatiently behind his shoulder. I would have to say hot chocolate was Charmy's favorite drink.

"Hey Espio." Vector said glumly, probably still feeling down about everything that had happened the past two days. The death of Luna, and our fight. "You want some?" He murmured. Was this a peace offering, or was he just being nice because Charmy was in the room. I decided to find out.

"Charmy, I'll bring you your cup, go into the living room." The tone of my voice must have tipped him off that he didn't want to know what was going to happen, because he left without protest, murmuring a quiet thanks. I turned to Vector as soon as Charmy had left.

"Vector." I paused, trying to find the right words to say. "What I said yesterday... I... didn't mean it." I said hastily, probably sounding like I didn't mean it. He put the pot of hot chocolate back on the burner and leaned against the counter, watching me with a thoughtful expression. Was he pondering whether or not to except my apology, or was he trying to figure out if I really meant it. I met his gaze calmly, and he finally let out a quiet sigh.

"Eh, I over reacted." He shrugged. "Like I always say," He paused to hold his hand out to shake, "Forgive and forget." He said with a stiff smile.

"Never in my life have I heard you say that." I smirked. He shrugged again and went back to pouring the hot chocolate. He didn't look away as he began to talk to me in a serious tone.

"You might wanna check on Midnight." He said quietly.

"Yeah? How come?" I asked. It seemed I was the only one who was able to calm her at times, but I guess the bond between us was stronger than she had with most people.

"Well..." He paused thoughtfully, completely ceasing all movement to think, then continued. "I sorta crossed the line." He muttered darkly, probably cursing himself for it. "Like I did with you. I'm just... worried about you guys, and she got all defensive. I guess she has the right." He paused and put the empty pot in the sink and filled it with water to soak. "It's sort of a touchy ground for me to be sniffing about. I mean, I don't know her as much as I know you." He turned around, with a nervous smirk, and shrugged.

"Okay, where is she?" I noticed she hadn't been in the living room with the rest of the group.

"I think she went out to her sister's grave to calm herself down." He said, sounding distracted, as he began to grab the mugs one by one and shift his grip on them to hold as many as possible. With a nod, I walked out, slipped my shoes on, and stepped outside. There was a draft of cold air, which was a big shock compared to the warmth inside the house.

As I turned the corner, I heard a voice, probably Midnight's, as she knelled by the group of rocks and dusted the layers of snow off the tops.

"And get this..." She murmured, probably pretending to talk to her dead sister. Tails says it's a good way to get your feelings out. I think it's a little crazy. "...Then he went on asking me what I'd do if I got pregnant! I hardly even know the guy, and he's acting like Louie!" She picked up one of the large stones and held it in her hand. She let out a gentle sigh, her breath escaping in a cloud of mist that was carried away by the wind. "I wonder what Louie would say if he knew..." She muttered, gently tossing the stone in the air and catching it. "Or Dad..."

Silently, I shifted to lean against the house. This was probably considered eavesdropping, but I didn't want to disrupt her when she was "talking to her sister" like this.

"HotShot would probably murder Espio..." She trailed off for a moment as her eyes caught on a large stone that was shaped like a rectangle. Shifting forward, she grabbed it, and as she continued talking, she began to scratch something in it with the stone she already held. "He's cute... Espio, I mean. And he's sweet. Amy said I bring out a new side of him even she hasn't seen. She claims he's usually kept to himself and only cares about his Ninjitsu."

Is that was Amy really thought?

"I think she's crazy, he's been sweet to me since I first met him." She stated matter-of-factly. "And that Shadow guy I was telling you about... I think he's hiding something. He seems so nervous. I mean, when your body..." She trailed off at the thought and bit her knuckle thoughtfully. "When you came, he nearly jumped out of his skin." She continued. "Think he's been secretly siding with Eggman to save his own skin?"

I never really thought of it that way. Shadow did seem a little nervous when we were at the Egg Base. And ever since Midnight showed up in general. Was he really going to side with the guy he tried to _kill_ because he thinks Eggman is stronger? Or maybe it was a peace offering. He gives Eggman information and Eggman forgets about the whole thing.

"Well... Whatever." She muttered to herself as she continued to carve into the rectangular stone. "I can't believe it snowed on the second day after you died. And yesterday was really sunny. Are you trying to send me signs with the weather? I know you loved the sun and the snow." She paused to look at her work, then held it out and read it aloud. "Luna Marie Mesner. June 11th 1993 – December 18th 2007. The shell of her body is gone, but her spirit lives on forever." She let out another sigh, then one showing her sorrow. "I can't believe you're gone."

"But you just said she isn't." I said, stepping out of the shadows and approaching her. "Sure, she can't exactly answer you back, but you've held quite a conversation with her. And you just said her spirit lives on." Midnight leaped to her feet.

"How long have you been there?" She questioned, still holding the two stones firmly in her hands.

"Long enough. What are you doing out here sitting in the snow and talking to her? It's freezing, you might get sick." I stepped forward and gently stroked a lock of hair from her face. She smiled slightly, but it faded. "I know you miss her, but you should visit her at least when the snow stops."

"I refuse to go back inside to be _questioned_ by that nosy croc that knows nothing about me and has no right invading my privacy like that." She snapped. "Sure, he may be close to you, but I don't know him enough to tell him any of the personal things like that."

"He's sorry." I said quickly. She rolled her eyes and turned to Luna's grave, placing the large stone at the head of the grave and replacing the stone she took.

"I'll see you later, Lune." She murmured, then stood completely stiff, running her hand from her forehead, to her chest, then to her shoulders in a cross-like symbol. Stepping away, she turned back to face me. "Well, whatever. Sorry or not, I'm not on speaking terms with him yet." And we both went inside. The smell of hot chocolate hit both our noses as soon as we stepped inside, and saw too unoccupied mugs on the coffee table. We both grabbed one and sat down.

"Midnight." Vector muttered, gazing at his mug to avoid her eyes. "Sorry."

Midnight said nothing, but gave an acknowledging grunt and turned to Charmy. "How's your hot chocolate?" She asked sweetly. Charmy tilted the empty cup upside down.

"Gone." He replied with a giggle. "But it was _delicious!_"

"Good!" She replied with a chuckle and took a long drink of hers. Through the happiness I saw in her eyes, I could see the emotional pain she was masking. The reality of her sister being gone was striking her hard, and I felt helpless in the situation. There wasn't that much I could do, except comfort her whenever she needed it. I would always do that.

_Days Left: 7_

Time was running low. Patience was worn thin. As we sat about in the living room, waiting for Vector, every one seemed tense with apparition. Sonic was bobbing his leg up in down, just to have a way to move while he sat. Tails was pouring over the blueprints of the Egg Base, double checking to make sure he had the plan right. Midnight was shifting uncomfortably in her seat next to me, gripping my hand then releasing, and continuing to pattern as if it would calm her.

"This is it." I whispered, returning her grip. "You ready to see your family again?" She nodded with a nervous smile. Vector came into the living room, just as nervous as we were.

"Is everyone ready to go?" He asked, though he knew everyone was. There were murmurs through out the group, and everyone stood, except Amy, who decided it would be best for her not to get in the way. Charmy flew over to Vector, with a pleading look in his eyes, but Vector shook his head. "No can do, little guy, I don't want you getting hurt."

"But I can help!" He complained. Vector just shook his head again, and Amy grabbed his wrist, holding him back as we all walked out in a line. Onto to the battle field. The snow crunched beneath our feet as we took a sudden turn for Midnight to visit Luna's grave once more. She knelt next to the rocks, closing her eyes and mouthing something silently, her breath coming out in clouds that were carried away by the wind. Standing, she nodded to us, and we all headed on.

The Egg Base looked just as big as the last time we came here, but this time, it seemed more intimidating as we stared at it. We agreed it was all or nothing. If someone got seriously injured, we'd get them out and come back another time. As the doors creaked open for the robots to change guard, Midnight and I dove in first.

Midnight, now in her wolf form, slipped silently across the tiles, her black coat blending in with the dark shadows the lights did not cover. No robot sensed her movement as she moved about their ranks, her light emerald eyes locked ahead of her. I crawled nimbly along the walls, my eyes trained on her pelt. The last thing I wanted was for her to get hurt. We halted at the first turn and waited for the others.

We weren't kept waiting long. Shadow and Sonic sped across with ease, only seen as black and blue blurs to the eyes of the robots. Nothing was thought of it. Next Tails flew in overhead, holding Vector beneath him. For an eight year old, he was very strong to be able to hold Vector and fly at the same time. So far, everything was going as planned. Midnight and I would go first, since we were the least expected to be spotted, and give the signal when the coast was clear. The winding hallways seemed to twist on themselves, but due to Vector's constant testing on our memory, we were able to get through without getting lost.

As we all came to a halt outside the door, I stepped forward to punch in the code. My mind drew a blank. With all of the plans that Vector had pounded into my head, I couldn't remember. Cringing, I attempted it. '3613'.

"Incorrect." A robotic female's voice sounded, it echoed through the halls as alarms began to flash. Though no one voiced their rage, I could feel all their glares burning through my skin. The thudding sound of robots racing towards us echoed through the empty halls, heard over the sounds of bells going off.

We were trapped.

I turned to the code box and tried again. This time, the door opened. So it had been '3631'. Of course, I had to confuse two numbers in the sequence. We all dove in as the robots began to pound their way closer, closing the door behind us. The adrenaline was already coursing through our veins, and we stood for a moment to calm ourselves.

"Medianoche(1)!" A voice sounded behind us. Midnight turned, the fear melting from her eyes as she found her family standing behind her, still trapped. Quickly shifting to her normal form, she ran forward and stuck her hands in the cage, grasping her father's hands in hers. Tears of joy were running down her cheeks at the reunion, and for a moment, everyone seemed to forget the sirens sounding outside the door.

"Daddy!" Midnight cried, almost sounding like a little kid again. All of her family was gathered around her, talking to her in quick Spanish, and she replied just as quickly. Absol, on the other hand, was leaning against the back of the cage, his eyes locked onto me.

"You..." He said softly. "You've done something that pleasured one person and worried the rest. You fear you have not found complete forgiveness for your actions." He muttered defiantly, his dark eyes, an unnatural shade blue, were locked into mine. None of the Mesner's heard this. But how on earth could he know. "And you are also curious on how I know."

"Yes..." I said slowly. "How?"

He said nothing, just continued to stare at me, unblinking. Then, after another few seconds of staring, he raised a hand, and everyone fell silent as he began to speak.

"You will lose two people to one mistake. One you can never get back, the other only left due to your carelessness." His eyes never left mine, so he gave me no hints on who he was referring to or what he was talking about. "When two have gone, go to the resting place. Something will be missing. Where the object once was, there will be a valued treasure." He paused for a moment to let out a long sigh. "But be warned." He said quietly. "You have to act quickly. Every moment wasted on grief will count against you. Take too long, and everyone you know and love will perish before you, and then you too will be no more."And with that, he fell silent.

The silence didn't last for long. The doors behind us swung open, and there stood Eggman, and behind him was an army of robots.

"Run!" Tails yelled. Sonic grabbed his arm as he tried to get past, obviously darting for the window.

"We'll never make it! We're going to have to fight!" Sonic yelled over the sound of the alarms. Tails looked unsure. "We've done it a million times before, little buddy, you can do it!" Tails nodded now, a determined gleam in his eyes, and everyone braced themselves for a fight. Midnight stood beside me, snarling, the fur on the back of her neck on end. Robots came pouring in from all directions. This would be the fight of our lives.

Pushing Absol's prophecy to the back of my mind, I drew my throwing stars, and began to hurl them at robots as they came forward, large swords drawn. Midnight drew her own sword, which Vector had carried for her while she was in wolf form, and trashed at the robots. She had the biggest reason to fight. To gain revenge for her dead sister, for her family's suffering, and for her own life, which was ruined by Eggman.

Sonic spun carelessly around, robots exploding as he made an impact with their metal bodies. Parts were flying everywhere. The Mesner's had sunk to the back of the cage to protect themselves from the shower of metal. Shadow was watching from a distance, destroying and robot that tried to touch him, but not helping anyone else. Tails disengaged the robots, yanking wires that could not be replaced; a less violent way of getting the job done, and Vector was jogging around to help anyone who needed it.

Minutes passed. The robots kept coming. Our feet kept slipping from the moisture from the melting snow beneath them. Finally, Midnight fell on her back, her sword skidding across the room and crashing into the wall. The robots were crowding around her, now that she was defenseless, she was an easy target.

"Midnight!" I yelled, trying to fight my way through to her. But Vector beat me to her, his jaws snapping the robots in half like they were made of paper. So Vector was telling the truth; he is strong enough to break through metal. But the robots kept pouring towards them, and Vector fought as hard as he could.

But now I had to turn my focus to the robot's coming towards me. Midnight was in safe hands, I could trust Vector with her life and mine. Expertly throwing the stars, the robots exploded on impact. Amused with this child's play, I would occasionally dart around and gather my stars, which were unharmed by the explosions, and continue on.

Then, there was a strangled cry. A body fell to the floor, life taken away by Eggman's robots.

**(1)- Medianoche- Spanish of Midnight.**

**Author's Notes-**

**1- The prophecy took much thought so I didn't give too much away. Anyone wanna take a guess at it? I might not tell you whether you're right or not, but I'll be amused by any guesses.**

**2- Who do you think just died? Give me your best guess.**

**3- Don't forget to review! When I have a review, I work harder to get the chapter done to please my readers.**

**xoxo,**

**Midnight**


	10. Lose Two People To The Same Mistake

**Author's Notes-**

**1- Ugh. Life has been hectic. So glad I got this chapter done now, or it may not have been finished for another week or so Xx**

**2- This chapter isn't going to be as long as I hoped, because I don't have much time.**

Chapter 10

You'll Lose Two People To The Same Mistake  
_Days Left: 7_

Everything seemed to stop. Time seemed to slow. Even the robots, the bringers of the death, had halted to see who had fallen and who was left. Midnight fell to her knees, tears streaking down her cheeks as she began to openly sob, no longer caring if the robots killed her or not. I shoved my way through the crowd and my eyes fell upon a horrible sight. The dead body was...

Vector.

My heart sank suddenly as I halted, completely taken back by the amount of shock now halting all thoughts in my brain. Vector. He was the closest thing I've ever had to a father; to family in general. Losing him was like losing part of me. Everyone else, even Shadow, approached to see who had fallen. Tails gasped at the sight, Shadow remained silent, and Sonic zoomed forward to stop at his side.

"Vector..." He mumbled, crestfallen. Vector had been all of our family. It was hard to believe we'd never listen to him hum to his favorite song on his walk man as he poured over the paper work involving Team Chaotix. What was Team Chaotix even going to do without him, anyways? Vector always told me if something bad happened to him that I'd be runner-up for leader, but was I ready for the responsibility?

_You will lose two people to one mistake._ Absol's warning echoed in my mind. I looked around me, everyone I cared about was fine, and even Midnight's family remained unharmed. Who would the second person be? I didn't want to know. I don't think I could handle the loss of another person, close to me or not.

"Medianoche!" Auron yelled behind us, causing all of us to look up at him. "Take him and go, we'll be fine! Just get him out!" Everyone else of the Mesner family had remained to the back of the cage, but Auron stood leaning against the front bars, vice-gripping the cold metal. Midnight looked distant at first, in a daze, but she gave a slow nod, and she and everyone else shifted around him and lifted him up.

By now, the robots had regained themselves and were trying to destroy more of them. I wouldn't let that happen, not after I've already lost so much. Jumping back into an alert state, I immediately began to crush their numbers, powered by the anger of my losses. Sonic turned back to look at me in shock, amazed by the fight, but I ignored them as they dashed towards the window, which Eggman had refused to fix. Probably so the Mesner family suffered through the cold air and snow drifting in.

"Espio!" I heard someone yell from the cage. Turning from the pile of rubble that was once a group of robots, I glared over. It was Absol. He had slipped from the rest of the group like Auron, and was shouting to me. "Go! Getting killed by these robots in an act of vengeance won't bring Vector back! You're the only one who can fulfill the prophecy, you have to go!"

At first, I wanted to ignore him, and his _stupid prophecy_, but realizing that Midnight could be the other one to be lost, I decided to follow his orders and left without protest. The rest of the group had already hit the tree-line, and I bolted forward to catch them. Breaking the tree-line, I saw everyone was gathered around Vector's body, the blood that had dripped from his wounds staining the snow and turning it almost pink. Midnight was kneeling at his head, covering her face with her hands as she sobbed, and I slowly approached the dead crocodile's side. This may be my last chance.

"Vector..." I murmured, as if he could still hear me. I gently slipped my hand in his, the warmth fading quickly because of the temperature outside. "I'll never forget you..." It was all I could think to say. My mind seemed to be completely blank, dead as Vector's heart. Looking down at his bloody form, the killing slash across his neck wincing slightly. What a painful way to go. You can feel your life leaving you and being completely helpless to stop it.

Now I became aware of my surroundings. Midnight continued to sob at Vector's head, while Sonic draped a reassuring arm over Tails' shoulder. Shadow remained stiff, glancing from the dead body to the area around us, watching for any robots. It was a few more seconds before Midnight calmed down enough to see I was in as much distress as she was. She moved closer; this time she was comforting me, but I just wanted to be alone.

"He died for a good cause.." She murmured softly. That was a lie, or so I thought.

"No." I growled, "No. He died trying to save your ass because you're completely useless." I snapped. I've never felt this angry, and I didn't know why. I stood then, taking a step away from her, just needing some time to think this over. I glared up at her for a moment and saw the hurt expression in her eyes. "Just... go." I said with a frustrated sigh. She stayed completely still for a moment, new tears forming in the corners of her eyes, before she stepped backward, her feet crunching in the snow.

"Espio..." She whispered.

"Go!" I snapped, growling. "Get out of here!"

Midnight stared at me for a long, grueling moment, completely shocked with my anger. Then, with another step back, she squatted down and put her hands on the snow, shifting into the black wolf. With one last hurtful look to me, she bolted off. I watched her go with a glare, then shifted my attention back to Vector.

_You will lose two people to one mistake... _Absol's haunting prophecy rang in my head as we carried him back to the headquarters. _ One you can never get back, the other only left due to your carelessness..._ The thought dawned on me as we continued on, though my mind froze up. Did he mean Midnight? Did I just lose her because I was angry with grief for my fallen comrade? Dreading the return home, I had to will my feet to continue. Midnight's paw prints had left the original path we took to come here long ago, and I feared she would find herself lost.

We all halted outside the headquarters, all thinking the same thing. How were we going to explain this to Charmy? He was only a kid, would he be able to cope with the loss of his only father figure? We slowly lay Vector's body down, and as his scales reached, the snow, the door swung open with a loud bang.

"Vector!" Charmy cried, zooming forward and falling on the dead body. "Vector, speak to me! Please!" He knew all to well that he was never going to speak, but one of the steps to coping with a death was denial. "I promise I'll never scratch your CD s if you say something!" He whimpered, then gave up, his clear wings drooping. "Vector..." He whimpered, then began to cry. Gently, I picked him up, easing his grasp from around the crocodile's neck. Amy stood in the doorway, shaking her head sadly as she looked down at the body.

"How many more are we going to lose?" She whispered, her eyes giving away what she meant. She looked over to the side of the house, where Luna's grave was. As I held Charmy close, speaking in a soothing tone, I strained to hear the faint murmuring of Midnight as she spoke to her sister's grave, but I couldn't hear anything over Charmy's sobbing.

Finally, I had to take him inside to calm him down. Shadow and Sonic got to work on the grave. Right next to Luna's. It was pretty much the only place we could put it. Sitting Charmy down on the couch, I quickly put together a cup of hot chocolate, which he took gratefully and drank it slowly, calming himself. Music was playing upstairs, and I figured Midnight had found the stereo Vector got me for my birthday that I never really used and was healing herself too.

'_You were worrying too much, Espio_' I thought to myself, '_She's perfectly fine, and you can apologize once she's calmed down!_' But for some reason, I couldn't fully convince myself that was the case. Absol had been right about Vector's death, so why wouldn't he be right when it came to Midnight?

My head began to ache as I pondered all this new information while listening to the soft sobs coming from Charmy. It was almost fifteen minutes later when he finally stopped, falling asleep with the sad thoughts of Vector's bloody corpse staining the white snow. He was only six, he deserved this less than anyone else. Though I would never wish this grave misfortune upon anyone else.

The funeral service was short and painful. Each of us, excluding Midnight and Charmy, talked about how close Vector was to us. I offered to help fill the grave, but with a slow shake of his head, Sonic refused, and got to work. Slowly, I entered the house, and Charmy still lay asleep on the couch, whimpering in his sleep. Gently, I slid my arms under his fragile form, and carried him to his room, laying him on his bed and putting the blankets over him. He was better off sleeping through the night, right?

We didn't eat that night, since none of us felt like cooking or even eating. Time ticked by slowly, silence engulfed the living room as we all sat, taking another moment to remember the loss of our friend. If was how we were acting, imagine what Midnight was going through. Not only had she already lost her sister and now her friend, but she was the reason for his death. Part of me wanted to go up and comfort her, but the side of me that ached for Vector made me stay. I wasn't in the mood to talk to the one person who caused it. That would be as hard as losing him again.

"You should say your sorry." Sonic said suddenly, his emerald eyes glued to me, no longer even blinking. "It wasn't her fault she's gone."

"Yes it was." I said stubbornly, with a growl. "Had she just-!"

"Her feet and the floor was slick!" Tails snapped, probably fed up with it all. "She couldn't get to her feet, and Vector was able to. She didn't duck behind him and use him as a shield, he willingly risked his life to protect her!" He paused for a moment to let it sink in. "And if you weren't so occupied with throwing the blame of his loss on someone, you'd see how it was almost impossible for her, or any of us for that matter, to stop it!" His fists were clenched tightly in anger, and he glared at me until I finally looked away. He was right; I know, but I wouldn't believe it.

"If she hadn't gone..." I began. Tails angrily cut me off.

"Can you really convince yourself that it was her fault because she went?" He snapped. "If Charmy was in danger, I know you'd want to be there when he went to rescue him!"

"She wasn't fit to go, but she still went anyways! She stood have stayed behind with Amy and Charmy!"

"And not be able to help if _you_ got hurt?!" He retorted. In this debate, he was beating me by a long shot. "She _loves_ you, Espio, and I know you love her too. So why would you let the blame rest on her shoulders when she's already lost someone she cares about?"

"Because she deserves the blame!" I snapped. "I'm not going to hide reality from her. The truth hurts, it sucks, but she's just going to have to live with it!"

"But you aren't telling her the truth! You're lying to her! You're so upset by his loss, you blamed her when nothing could be done!"

"If she hadn't come here, none of this would have happened in the first place! This is her fault! If she left right now, we wouldn't have to deal with her problems, and we could handle ours!" I concluded. Tails was about to retort when his light blue eyes shifted from me to the hallway behind me. Slowly I turned to where he was looking, and there stood Midnight.

She had a hand over her mouth, her light emerald eyes filled with sorrow and hurt. "No... Midnight... I didn't mean..." I tried to redeem myself, but she just shook her head, tears now spilling from her eyes again, and backed up slowly. I stood up quickly, heading towards her to comfort her, when she took off down the corridor, running fast. The sound of her feet bolting up the stairs echoed, and seconds later, the slam of a door, probably mine, was heard. I turned back to face everyone, and they were glaring at me darkly.

"Now look what you've done." Amy said coolly. I probably deserved this, but right now, I wasn't in the mood.

"If Sonic had just minded his own damn business..." I began.

"Espio!" Shadow snapped, looking annoyed. "Stop blaming everyone else for all the problems we face. Just shut your trap, and for once in your life, swallow your pride and tell her your sorry for all the shit you've put her through." I was about to argue, but the dark glare he shot me told me he wasn't in the mood for a debate. With a heavy sigh, I walked down the corridor, and when I came to my room, I stopped.

"Midnight?" I called, weakly. There wasn't a sound in the room. She was probably giving me the cold shoulder. "I deserve this..." I muttered to myself, then took a deep breath. "Midnight, I'm sorry for blaming you for Vector's death when it wasn't your fault..." I began. "I was just upset and I needed a way to let it out. The fact that it was directed to you was completely unnecessary and wrong."

I paused for a moment to see if there was a response, but I heard nothing. "Also, I didn't mean what I said down there. Tails just had me worked up from the fight we had and I said some things I'd never in my life mean..." Still no response. It would probably take more than one apology to break this. "So... Yeah, I'm sorry. Whenever you're ready, we can talk this over." And walked away, leaving her to whatever she was doing.

_Just give her some time to cool..._ I told myself silently as I made my way back to the living room. I really didn't want to face everyone again, but since Midnight was in my room, I had no where else to go. _Tails is right, we love each other, we won't let one fight break us apart._

"So?" Amy asked the moment I entered the room. "What did she say?"

I flopped down on the couch with a quiet grunt and rested my head against the back, shaking my head slowly. "Nothing. She's probably giving me the cold shoulder... And damn it, I deserve it." I muttered quietly. I could tell from the looks on their faces they were silently agreeing with me but didn't want to hurt my feelings by saying it.

"Just let her cool off... What you said was sort of harsh..." Tails said slowly, thinking carefully of everything he said before actually saying it. Had I done the same, maybe Midnight wouldn't be mad at me right now. "Okay..." He muttered, to himself mostly. "Really harsh. But still, you apologized, so that ought to account for something!"

"I hope so." I said quietly. "I really do."

The sun had set and the night had fallen, yet there had still been no sign of Midnight. I hoped she had just fallen asleep and would wake up tomorrow morning in better spirits, willing to talk about how we can fix what I've done. I'd hate to lose Midnight now, after all we've been through. As Tails, Amy, Sonic, and Shadow got ready to go to the X-Tornado, I decided to check and see if Midnight really was sleeping, or if she was ignoring me. I turned toward the hallway, and Amy grabbed my arm.

"I'll go with you, Espio." She mutters quietly, before giving a reassuring squeeze and letting go of my arm. We silently walked up the steps, being careful not to wake Charmy, and halted outside my door. Slowly, I reached and grabbed the doorknob. Music was playing quietly in the room. I twisted the knob and the door swung open slowly.

The room was empty, the window was open, and the quilt that had been on my bed was hanging out the window, knotted every few inches. She had left us. She took my words to heart. I said if she left, we'd be better off. Now she's really gone. In shock, I sunk forward, half falling to my bed as I tried to regain myself. Did she even hear my apology? If she did, she must not have believed it.

"Midnight..." I murmured quietly. I put my hands out on the bed at my sides, and paper crumbled beneath my left hand. Turning quickly, I picked up a sheet of paper. It was a note from Midnight. I began to read aloud as Amy wandered around the room to see if Midnight had left anything.

"_Dear Charmy, Tails, Shadow, Sonic, and Amy,_

_The Master Emerald that Knuckles was talking about brought me here, and Espio drove me away. He's right though, I've brought you all nothing but trouble and heartache. He was right about me being the cause of Vector's death. Had I not even come here in the first place, you'd all be better off. True, you'd have one less friend (if you consider me that), but I'm easy to forget._

_Which is what I want you to do. Forget about me. I've left with a heavy heart for leaving the bonds I have made with you guys, but it is for the better. You can grieve your losses in peace without me adding onto the trouble, and you won't have to worry yourself over mine. You probably won't find me, wherever I end up going, and I don't want you to even waste your time looking. I wish I could say I can fend for myself, but Espio's right about that too, I can't. If I could, Vector would still be alive, and maybe I wouldn't have left._

_Or maybe I would have, I don't know. I just want to apologize to you all for everything I've caused, the trouble, the grief, the anger... Everything. I would have told you face to face, but you would have convinced me to stay, and I know that would have led to nothing but more trouble... Besides... I don't think Espio would even want me here anymore... I know if I was in his position, I wouldn't. Even after..._

_Never mind it, he probably doesn't care about it anymore._

_Maybe someday I'll come back for a visit. Maybe. If everyone who still holds bitterness towards me lets it die peacefully and doesn't hold it against me. Just one last thing I don't want to forget to mention... You all were all the best friends I've ever had. Never forget that. Even though I'm gone, just remember that you changed my life._

_And Charmy, be strong, for you, for Espio, for Vector... For everyone. I know you took it the hardest, you and maybe Espio, but I never want to hear that you've changed from the sweet kid that always cheered me up when I was down._

_Farewell,_

_Midnight."_

My heart had sunk to an all time low. I drove her away. This was my fault. Every last part of it. This is what I get for blaming everyone else for my problems. Amy had a hand over her mouth, a tear slipping from her emerald eyes as she held something in her hand.

"She left this for you... Espio." She murmured quietly, holding out a photograph. I willed my arms to lift and accept it, and as my eyes fell on it, another stab of guilt hit my heart. It was us; Midnight and I. She was curled up against me, asleep, and I had fallen asleep as well, arms around her in a protective and loving way. "I gave her two copies, and told her to give you one whenever something bad happened between you two, to remind you how much you love her..." She said through her tears. Flipping the picture over, the same curvy handwriting was on the back.

_I'll never forget you. Even if you want nothing more to do with me. I loved you, and even if you no longer feel the same, you'll never leave my heart. No one can replace you._

"...I'll never forget you either, Midnight." I muttered under my breath, forcing the tears that threatened at my eyes to stay away. She couldn't hear me, but I wished with all my heart she could.

_'You'll lose two people to the same mistake.'_ Absol had been right. But I don't think I can get her back like he said. She's gone. Forever.

**Author's Notes-**

**1- Gasp! Vector's dead! Poor guy, I started to like him a little. And now I'm gone too. God, Espio really has screwed up, huh?  
**

**2- Hopefully, I can do the next chapter a little quicker. This fanfic is like an addiction for me. I can't stop! Not finishing this chapter till now nearly killed me.**

**3- I was throwing around the idea of making a sequel too. Would anyone read that?**

**xoxo,**

**Midnight**


	11. Get Her Back

**Author's Notes-**

**1- Wow, I am SO mad at myself. I've had this chapter done for months now, and I kept forgetting to post it. Man, am I PISSED  
**

**2- Hehehe, I'm working on an actual novel to have published. It's sort of funny, I'm on Chapter 11 on that one too. It's called 'Rival', and it's one of 6 books in a series.**

**3- Man, this story is depressing right now. I need to hurry up and bring it back to the happy, carefree days**

**4- I have made my decision. I WILL make a sequel to this **

Chapter 11

Get Her Back

Tails calls it shock. I call it depression. I didn't sleep at all the night before. I missed Midnight's warmth. Her calm, quiet breath in my ear. Her smooth skin pressed against my scales. Her. I had messed up big time. If she gets hurt because of my stupidity, I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for it. Well, she's already hurt, emotionally, anyways. Would she ever heal from this? Would I ever see her again, and apologize for all the hell I've put her through?

When I finally willed myself out of bed at around 8 am, everyone was gathered in the living room, all looking rather down on their luck. Charmy was sitting on the back of the couch, staring into space as he held Midnight's note in his hand. He was losing everything he had held onto. I was all that's left. Everyone looked up as I came in, to either harden their gazes into glares, or look away all together. It was my fault she was gone.

"Well if it isn't the bastard himself." Shadow growled as he leaned against the front door. "How'd ya sleep with Midnight's broken heart on your conscience? If you have one, that is." He glared darkly. He always had a way of prying at people's pain and magnifying it, don't you think? I wanted to defend myself from him, but he was right.

"I didn't." I said bluntly, sitting down on the couch with a grunt. "Do I look like I did?" I snapped. Shadow shrugged.

"It's hard to tell with your type. You lied to Midnight about it being her fault that Vector's dead; so it's probably easy to fake lack of sleep to gain sympathy." He said quietly, his crimson eyes nearly burning a hole through my scales. But I met the glare fully with my own.

"Will you stop bringing it up?!" I shouted, fists clenched. "I know I screwed up, and now Midnight's gone, don't you think I have enough on my conscience, like not being there when Vector took his last breath?! This will haunt me for the rest of my existence, don't make it any worse!" And with that, I stood up, shoved him out of the way of the door, and stormed out. I needed to get away from their condescending glares. I couldn't go to my room. Too many memories.

With a heavy heart and heavy feet, I fell to my knees by the two graves. I've never felt this weak, this helpless, this disgraceful. The cold snow beneath me had formed a layer of ice to cap it, so I was on a solid surface. My breath, heavy, came out in clouds of mist, hovering in front of my face before fading as it cooled.

_Go to the resting place..._ Absol's words echoed in my head. Was this what he meant? Luna and Vector's final resting place? I let out a long sigh, frustrated and confused. Midnight always found comfort in talking to the graves, as if they could still hear her. Could they?

"Vector..." I muttered. I couldn't believe I was doing this. "I've messed up, Vector, and I don't know what to do." I fought back the tears that once again threatened at my eyes. I would not cry. That's an ultimate weakness. "You always knew what to do next. Why can't you still be here to help me?" My hands slid across the ice slightly. I couldn't feel the cold. I couldn't feel anything. "How am I supposed to take over Team Chaotix if I can't even keep a relationship together? How am I supposed to keep a whole team working together, when my loose tongue just cost me someone I love?"

_Something will be missing._ Absol's voice continued to replay the prophecy. That damn prophecy. I looked around, trying to find if something was out of place. Attention to detail was one of my stronger points. Finding what was different from the first, however, was not, somehow. Why couldn't I have another hint? My hands moved around clumsily, until I came upon something. One of the stones that lined Luna's grave was missing.

"The same stone she used to carve the headstone." I whispered as I moved closer to view the indent in the snow where the stone had been. The last piece of her sister that Midnight could take with her. My hand fit into the indent, and where the stone had been, was now one of the jewels from Midnight's sword. Carefully, I picked it up and held it to the sunlight. It was one of the light purple ones, one I've never seen before. Okay, now I had the 'valued treasure' Absol was talking about. What next...

"_In exchange for their freedom..." I began, now in Midnight's head. I stood in the Egg Base, perched atop the large metal cage, clinging to the bars. Absol's hand was rested on mine; he could probably sense the emotional pain that resided within me. "I give you mine." I finished. Eggman was seated in his large swivel chair, looking thoughtful._

"_Why the change in heart?" He asked darkly. "Last time, you tried to break them out and keep your freedom. Was it your friend's death that proved I'm not to screw around with?" He paused for a moment. "Well, you can screw around with me." He added mischievously. Gross._

"_That doesn't concern you." I said coldly. My heart felt heavy in my chest, and my hands were cold against Absol's._

"_It was that Espio creature, wasn't it?" Eggman said softly. I looked up at him, pushing back the tears. "I knew in the end it wouldn't work. You two are total opposites. True, opposites attract, but that's just it." So now I was getting relationship counseling from a bastard who had to trap someone's family to get laid. Pitiful._

"_Whatever. Do we have a deal, or should I go?" I snapped._

"_Go!" Auron shouted, looking up through the bars. "Please, Medianoche, don't go through with this. What would Espio, or any of your new friends say?" My heart seemed to sink further._

"_Espio... He wouldn't care. And the rest... They'd be proud I risked my life for my family's, and theirs. No matter the cost." I said softly, lifting a hand to rub my eye as a tear slipped out._

"_You have yourself a deal Midnight." Eggman said quietly, slamming his fist down on a button that opened the lock on the cage. I jumped down from the top and greeted my family with open arms. "You have three minutes to reunite and for your family to leave."_

"_Dad, take the family to my friends. I left you a blood trail in the snow to follow." I placed my hand over the large cut down my wrist I had extracted blood from. Auron looked disapproving, but said nothing._

"_What are we supposed to tell them?" HotShot asked quietly. "Or that Espio guy, for that matter."_

"_Tell Espio nothing of me. It'd be a waste of breath. As for the others... Don't tell them what I've done. They might risk trying to save me, and I already have Vector's death on my shoulders. If any of them died as well..." I trailed off for a moment, then continued. "When you see a bee that looks about six years old, his name is Charmy. Tell him... Tell him to be strong..." I finished quietly. I turned away from my family then, eyes closed. "Now go. Before he changes his mind."_

_The sound of heavy footsteps sounded as walked out the door. All but one. I turned around, and there stood Absol, his unnaturally dark blue eyes meeting mine._

"_Espio..." He begins quietly. "Still loves you. He's worried about you." I sort of already knew this, but that didn't take away the pain. "I know you want to tell him something." He concluded quietly. I wanted to deny it, but the defiant look he gave me told me he wouldn't leave till I gave him what he wanted._

"_Tell him I'm sorry." I said bluntly, then turned away completely and began to walk away. "Now go." I snapped. Absol, hesitant at first, finally left, leaving me with Eggman. Eggman didn't look at me, just turned towards the computer screen, monitoring the prisoners as they left.. He had a little respect to know when not to talk to me. I was hurting. I was crying on the inside._

"_I love you Espio..." I whispered to myself. "I always will."_

Slowly I was brought back to reality. Charmy was hovering over my shoulder, saying something to me I could not understand. Slowly, what he was saying made sense.

"Having another connection with Midnight?" He asked quietly. I nodded slightly, slowly staggering to my feet with the purple jewel in my hand. I said nothing else; no details of how she was or what she was doing. She told her family not to tell anyone what had happened. I would do the same. "Is she alright?"

"She's fine." I said vaguely, making my way back to the house. Charmy followed instinctively, and began to ask questions.

"What was she doing?"

"I'm not allowed to say." I said bluntly, pausing outside the door to face him. I wasn't quite ready to face everyone again, and Charmy looked surprised at first, then he looked like he understood.

"She went to free her family, didn't she?" He asked smartly. I said nothing, neither shaking my head or nodding, and entered the house. Charmy knew he was right, even without me giving him a hint. Midnight had been right, they'd be worried. Charmy suddenly looked restless. "Well we gotta help her!" He cried as everyone looked up. I wanted to disappear at that moment, and contemplated going invisible and fleeing to my room.

"Help who? With what?" Amy said rather stupidly, looking at Charmy in a confused manner. Of course she wouldn't know. Only Vector and Charmy knew about my connection with Midnight. Was it really worth explaining?

"Midnight!" Charmy yelled. "Espio... He has this freaky mind connection with Midnight, and he saw it all in her point of view! That's how he knew her name when she first came here, and how he knows her better than all of us! And now Eggman has her, and her family is free!" He cried out. "We gotta help her! God knows what might happen to her if she stays with him!"

Everyone looked at Charmy and I like we should be in a lunatic asylum. Tails finally regained himself from learning all this bizarre information.

"How about you explain every one you've had, and when."

----

It had only been a few minutes, maybe fifteen, after I finished explaining everything, when there was a quiet knock on the door. Amy involuntarily flinched at the noise, and I willed myself to stand and answer the door. If it was Midnight's family, I was Enemy No. 1 to them, but at least they knew me. I slowly opened the door.

There stood Auron, and even through starvation, he seemed strong and proud. Behind him, keeping their distance, was the rest of the family, all looking weak and desperate for shelter from the cold. Looking back to Auron, I met his dark glare, the one I pretty much deserved, with a look of sorrow.

"I don't know what went on between you two..." He said slowly to me. "But whatever it was, it caused Midnight to risk herself for our safety, your safety, and your friend's safety." So much for not telling us what she did. He pretty much did. We all would have figured it out from what he said, with or without me already giving them the news. "We don't want to bother you too much, but my family and I need shelter before they perish beneath Winter's cold hands." He claimed.

"You're always welcome here, as is Midnight." Amy stated defiantly, coming next to me with a slightly nervous smile. Auron nodded to her with gratitude, and with a quick command in thick Spanish, everyone entered, huddled close to warm themselves.

Shadow, Sonic, and Tails quickly got up form the couch to let the family sit, and Auron, Absol, and Louie eased themselves on the couch slowly. Nick and HotShot, however, eased themselves into a laying position on the floor, near the fire. I closed the door as a cold gust of air blew in, and leaned against the door, trying to stay as far away from the family as possible. I was probably one of the most hated people in the world right now; to them at least.

"So you're the bastard who pissed Midnight off." HotShot said bluntly as he glared at me. "What'd you do to her, anyways? She was pretty torn when we saw her!"

"_Silencio_!" Auron commanded, and HotShot fell silent, bitterly glaring at me. I knew he was just worried about Midnight, and had every right to be mad at me, but he could have worded it a little differently, since I don't know him and he doesn't know me.

"At least I don't go reading her diary when I'm clearly not allowed." I muttered under my breath. I was surprised with myself, but I wasn't about to take it back. Why deny the truth? HotShot looked shocked at first, but quickly regained himself.

"You don't? Then how would you know?" He quipped quickly in response. Part of me was angry at myself for triggering another fight that might end bitterly like my fight with Tails had, but the rest of me, the defensive side, screamed for me to say something back. But what? 'I have a mind connection with Midnight that allows me to see into her head?' I might as well tape a sign to my forehead that said "Crazy" on it.

"He's the chosen one." Absol murmured quietly, and HotShot turned to face him, even more confused. He sighed, exasperated, and began to explain. "The chosen one. Her soul mate. He has connections to Midnight that any of us could never even dream of possessing. He can see into her mind when the connection is open; usually during sleep or times of distress or hurt. He's the keeper of her heart, and can heal it without even trying."

"Midnight's soul chose a _real_ good guy." Louie quipped sarcastically, ignoring Auron's dark glares that screamed for him not to get involved in this. "The bastard _broke her heart_! You saw her Absol, she would have cried if the fat guy hadn't been there!"

"True." Absol said firmly. "He did mess up, but if he's willing, he can change it. Not even the nastiest of fights could break apart soul mates. If one dies, the other can simply not find someone to replace him or her. Their heart won't let them."

"Well, whatever," Louie growled, his arms crossed, and glared at me darkly, "If she dies because you drove her to giving herself up to Eggman, I'll make sure you suffer like she did!" I knew I deserved all of this, but it was hard to swallow the fact that we were letting them into our home and they were treating me this way. But I swallowed my pride like Shadow said I should have, and did not respond.

"Espio..." The quiet voice belonged to Nick, who stared into the fire. "If you ever try to get her back, you have a long road ahead of you."

"If?!" HotShot exclaimed, sitting up a little straighter, "He _will_ get her back, or god help me, I'll kill him myself!"

"QUIET!" Auron finally burst. Everyone fell into a deadly silence. No one said a thing for a while, until I finally made my decision.

"I'm willing to get her back."

**Author's Notes-**

**1- Yay! Espio finally got his head out of his ass and figured out that he has a lot to make up for. Tsk, tsk, I pity Midnight though.**

**2- HotShot and Louie make me laugh. Louie is a sarcastic ass, and HotShot is just stubborn.**

**3- I promise to have Chapter 12 up fast than this one ;;**


	12. Joke

**Author's Note-**

**1- Eh, this chapter didn't amaze me... I'm really just getting some crap out of the way that leads to the Adventure part of the plot.**

**2- About half way in is when I found out my dog was put to sleep after having a massive seizure and believed to have a brain tumor. Right around the part where Midnight asked Shadow to kill her.**

Chapter 12

Joke

"_Are you sure those are wolf ears? Because you're one hell of a fox!" Eggman's smug voice was a gentle whisper in my ear as I squeezed my eyes shut tight. I was in Midnight's head once more. I felt so dirty, so violated. I just wanted him to leave. I just wanted some time alone to heal my broken heart._

"_Go to hell," I said through gritted teeth as I rolled away from him. I was laying on my right side on the very edge of the right side of the bed. I was too exhausted to get to my feet and leave the room. I was too weak to even push him away as he pulled me closer to him once more. His breath smelt of peppermint. Well, at least he was considerate enough to pop a few breath mints before I had to get anywhere near that dirty mouth of his._

"_I'm already there," He whispered again, running an hand down my arm, "because I think I just did the devil's daughter." He mused gently. I pushed away from him, yanking some of the blankets over my body as I glared at the wall. I was just trying not to cry. And I didn't know why I was._

"_Dr. Eggman," one of the robots was speaking into a walkie-talkie. Eggman sat up and yanked on a bathrobe before he shuffled over to answer the call. He muttered quietly so I couldn't hear. Not like I wanted to. I had my own problems to deal with. All I wanted was him..._

_Who was he, you may ask. It was Espio. Even after all that had happened, and what he had driven me to, I still couldn't let his memory die. Eggman left without a word to me, which was my cue to hold myself together for another day until I could cry in the darkness of my own room. Given that "Master Eggman" would leave me be for a night._

"_There, there, Midnight," The voice of one of Eggman's better robots, Decoe, rang out as he came into the room with my clothes. He knew what Eggman was doing to me was wrong, but he was powerless to help me. But he was always there when I needed him to talk to, "At least you're away from that purple scaled menace!"_

"_I need him though," I whimpered as I pulled on my shirt. Then, although I was only half dressed, I placed my head in my hands and let the tears fall. I couldn't stop them now. "Decoe, I can't even look at myself in the mirror anymore. I keep seeing a whore that isn't loyal to someone who loves her!"_

"_Midnight," Decoe said as he sat down next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. Wow, for a robot, he has a lot of compassion. "He's the one who blamed you for that crocodile's death. Do you really think you should be loyal to him?"_

"_Yes!" I sobbed. "I don't care if he loves me anymore or not, I can't stand the distance between us! I feel like I'm better off dead then without him!" My body shook as I sobbed, gripping the roots of my hair but not tugging._

"_Love is confusing..." Decoe whined as he held his head too._

"Espio!" I awoke to Amy shaking my shoulder, looking worried. Sweat poured from my forehead as I sat up and glanced at the clock but my eyes were drawn to Absol. He was leaning against the wall casually, watching me with unnaturally dark blue eyes. "You were having a bad dream, Espio!"

"Did I say anything?" I held my head, rubbing my throbbing temples with my index fingers as I reviewed the dream in my head.

"Something like 'I can't stand the distance between us!' or 'I'd rather be dead then be without her!'. It was pretty weird." Amy sat down at the foot of my bed, hanging her head. "You were talking about Midnight, weren't you?"

"Of course he was," Absol said with a roll of his eyes. "He just saw the hell that he signed Midnight up for, AGAIN. And that was only after the second day of being there. Imagine how she's doing now."

It had been at least a week and a half since Midnight's family had come to live with us when she put herself in Eggman's grasp for their freedom. Every night since she had left, excluding the first night, I had a connection with her. Sometimes, the same dream would replay, just because the next day was too painful for her to let me watch. This was probably the fifth night I have seen this very dream, only last time, I didn't see Decoe come in.

"Decoe is interesting for a robot," Absol commented. I nodded, not feeling up to replying. I had already gotten used to him being able to see these connections, and the inside of my mind, and was no longer amazed by his power.

"You know what, I'm not even going to ask what you guys are talking about..." Amy said as she headed for the door, "You guys scare me anyways!" She joked as she closed the door behind her. I leaned against the headboard of my bed and looked at Absol.

"So how do I fix all of this?" I asked quietly. Absol stared at me for a long moment, his dark blue eyes probing me like scalpels, but remained silent.

"All will become clear when it seems to have disappeared." He said softly, as if that made total sense. Earth to Absol: What the hell?

"Okay...?" I said slowly as I got to my feet. I was heading for the door, when Tails yanked it open.

"Espio! Come quick, you have to see this!" And without further explanation, he turned on his heel and bounded back down the stairs and toward the living room. I glanced over at Absol, who was a small smirk on his face, then headed alongside me as he bounded after Tails. When we came to a halt at the end of the hallway and entered the living room, I was shocked at what I saw.

Midnight stood, leaning against the door.

But it was not the Midnight I knew. No, it was a whole other side of her I've never witnessed before in my life. She was clad in a black body suit, that almost made her look like a ninja, and she had deep red eyes, matching Shadow's red fur perfectly. The scowl on her face let off the look of extreme anger, and I knew very well what the cause was.

"Midnight!" Louie cried as he got up to approach her. Midnight shot him a glare that told him to remain where he was, and he obeyed.

"You look like hell, Midnight," Absol commented. Those were my thoughts exactly. Midnight didn't look at Absol, but instead, directed her hateful glare towards me.

"Well, someone knows very well why." She took a step closer, crossed her arms over her chest, and shifted forms to become an exact replica of me. "_Had she not come here in the first place, none of this would have happened. This is her fault! If she just left right now, we wouldn't have to deal with her problems, and we could handle ours!" _My exact words. I hung my head with shame, unable to fight back. She was right. I messed up. As she shifted back into her own form, she snorted.

"Here's my version of it: Had he not been such an ass in the first place, none of this would have happened. This is his fault. If he just swallowed his pride now, I wouldn't have to deal with Eggman, and I could mend my broken heart." Her eyes began to water slightly, but she just rubbed them away carelessly. When I finally looked up, her glare was still directed to me. "How does it feel to have all the blame, Espio?"

"It sucks." I said simply. I knew what I was walking into with my response, but I need to face it like a man.

"Welcome to my world, you son of a bitch," She snapped. Then, done with me for a while, she turned her attention to Shadow. "Now I came here other than to show dumbass what he's done to me."

"Well, spit it out," Shadow snarled, "We don't have all day."

Midnight drew her sword and held it to Shadow's neck. Amy screeched and drew closer to Sonic, and Charmy flew behind me and peered over my shoulder. Midnight had a maniacal look in her eyes.

"For the past week I've heard Eggy talk of _nothing_ but killing you for what you did to him!" She drew closer to him, so more of the sword was placed against his neck. She continued to step forward, forcing Shadow back against the wall. "And he said if I killed you, I'd get my freedom." Amy let out another cry of surprise, and this time, Sonic even wrapped his arm around her shoulder protectively.

"Then you're going to have to find another opportunity to gain your freedom," Shadow hissed. All the sudden, the blinding light of a Chaos Spear formed, and Midnight was thrown away from him and against the other wall.

"Midnight!" I yelled, bolting to her side. Whether or not she wanted me dead, I still cared about her. Midnight sat up with a groan, and as I approached, she was too injured to push me away. Shadow stepped closer, his hand glowing with yet another Chaos Spear. His dark crimson eyes glimmered in the light reflecting from them.

Then the door swung open, and Decoe and Bocoe stood in the doorway, and behind them there was an army of Eggman's robots. Shadow's concentration was thrown, causing the Chaos Spear to vanish, and Decoe rushed over to Midnight, shoving me out of the way in the process.

"Are you alright?" He asked Midnight, crouched down next to her and trying to get her to stand. She slowly got to her feet, her wolfish tail and ears sagging with defeat. Shadow shoved some of the robots off him, but did not attempt to attack Midnight again. Was that remorse I saw in Shadow's crimson eyes?

"Leave," He commanded, pointing towards the door, his eyes locked onto Midnight's. "Or I'll kill you." This was unlike Shadow not to kill someone who threatened his own existence.

Did he pity her? Her body was even further scared and wounded than before, when she had first come here. The liveliness of her light green eyes had faded, and the shade of green had morphed into a hateful red. Merely the way she held herself reflected her desperation to find a way out of whatever she was forced to endure at the Egg Base. It hurt to see her this way.

"Do so," She whispered, falling to her hands and knees before him, with her head hung. "Rescue me from the physical pain of Eggman's abuse, and the emotional pain of..." She trailed off, and although I could not see her eyes through the thick black locks of hair that hung down around her hair, I knew she was looking directly at me.

"He can't!" Charmy cried, zooming from behind me and wrapping his arms around her neck. "Espio's sorry, he really is! Just stay here with me! Please!" The desperation in his voice could melt even the hardest of stone hearts.

Decoe, now realizing this was his chance to grab her and run, leaped from behind me and grasped her wrist, tugging her to a stand and then pulling her out.

"This isn't over!" Decoe screamed over his shoulder at Bocoe and the rest of the robots followed. In seconds they had vanished, and the only physical evidence of them ever being there was another one of Midnight's jewels from her sword. Instinctively, I bolted forward and grasped the stone. Nothing happened. No connection was formed between my mind and Midnight's.

"Patience," Absol whispered as I looked up at him, confused. "You have to wait for her to regain herself enough to trigger a connection."

"That doesn't help me much now," I muttered as I slipped the jewel in my pocket. I turned towards the couch, suddenly feeling fatigued, when I saw the look of mortification on Auron's face. I guess seeing your daughter begging for death was something a father doesn't exactly want to see.

"I'm sorry..." I whispered. Auron looked at me, his eyes holding a level of hate I had never thought possible, before snorting and glancing out the window.

Rain pelted the windows, matching the depressing mood of the whole household. Charmy zoomed from person to person, trying to convince them that we must go rescue Midnight before she does something crazy. Although everyone agreed with him, they could not disrespect Midnight's wishes that we risked our lives to save her.

"But Espio!" Charmy whined, tugging on my arms with frustration, "Don't you care about her?"

"I do," I muttered, still looking out the window as the rain fell down, "But Midnight won't want us to..."

"But she said that _before_ Eggman and his abuse! If she could take it back now, you know she would!" He protested, flopping down on the couch with his arm crossed, looking frustrated. He had a very valid point, but I couldn't agree with him. We don't really know what Midnight is thinking. "Why don't you make a connection with Midnight?"

"Believe me, I'd love to," I said bitterly, glaring at the jewel sitting on the coffee table in front of me. "But I have to wait for her to open up."

"Absol, why is this sack of crap Midnight's soul mate? Why not me?" HotShot spat as he lay on his back on the floor.

"Because you're obsessed with Midnight, not in love with her. And she wants you dead most of the time. If you were her soul mate, you'd end up killing each other." Absol said smartly. HotShot glared at him, but did not verbally protest, probably knowing that he was right. "Espio, try the jewel again..."

I reached forward and grasped the gem. Nothing...

"_I'm fine, Decoe! Just leave me be!" I growled as I tried to push the golden robot away. His eyes narrowed in a determined fashion as he patched up another one of the wounds on my arm._

"_You are not fine!" He retorted. "Now sit still and let me fix those wounds!" Too exhausted to protest, I hung my head and let him finish. I was too numb to feel the quick stabbing pains as he touched the open wounds. I was too preoccupied anyways._

"_He still cared about me..." I whispered to myself. Decoe hesitated for a moment, as if pondering who "he" was, but he soon continued, though his metal hands moved a little slowly._

"_You're not forgiving him, are you?" Eggman said as he came in. He must have heard me through the door. Decoe stopped what he was doing to stand completely straight beside me, like he was preparing to salute him. "Midnight, darling, he blamed you for his friend's death! He said they were better off if you were gone! You aren't really going to take him back after all the pain he's put you through, are you?"_

"_He's not the only one who has caused me pain," I retorted bitterly as I turned away from both Decoe and Eggman, holding the half finished bandage on my arm as I took a few steps away. I did not hear Eggman move, or even attempt to speak. He knew I was right. He was just trying to think of a response._

"_True," He finally began, after a few moments had worn on. "I have caused you quite a lot of pain..." He paused for a moment, then continued, "But I haven't blamed you for all my problems, have I? Physical pain vanishes after a few days, but emotional pain lingers."_

_He had a point. I hung my head, the tears that threatened at my eyes began to flow freely. I heard the heavy steps of Eggman as he approached, and placed a hand on my shoulder. One of the tears ran down my nose and dripped to the metal floor._

"_Don't cry, Midnight," He said gently, turning me around to face him. The face of the mad scientist that had captured my family and burned down my house seemed to have morphed into the gentle face of someone who cared. Was this really how it was meant to be? "I'm here for you," He whispered._

_'Guess what, Espio?' I thought silently as I gazed up at Eggman's face, 'It looks like someone is replacing you.'_

I came back to my senses as Absol shook my shoulder. His dark blue eyes were clouded with worry and shock as I opened my own eyes, and he let out a heavy sigh. "I knew this was coming." He murmured. But I stood up and pushed him away. Midnight really wasn't going to ditch me like that, was she?

"What? What happened?" Charmy asked, buzzing around my head and Absol's excitedly.

"We'll tell you later," Absol said softly, and tried to approach me again. I pushed him away a little harder, and leaned against the window. This couldn't be happening. "Espio," Absol began, this time not trying to approach me. "The only way you're gonna get her back is if you figure out she's only doing this because she's hurt and confused and Eggman is trying to use that to his advantage!"

Why is he always right about this? With a heavy sigh, I turned to face him, and nodded, but said nothing. Without any words to anyone, I headed for my room, thinking maybe Midnight would send me a sign it was all a joke.

**Author's Notes-**

**1- Once again, I was not impressed.**

**2- Thanks to all who are reading, even if you aren't reviewing. This fanfic is keeping my muse for my actual novel alive. And to the one person who is reviewing... -hands TOSO more snickerdoodles- I luff yew xD**

**3- Don't forget to review... Even though only one person is doing it so far.**

**xoxo,**

**MidnightNinja**

**(My tribute to my dog, feel free to ignore**

**Rusty-Boy**

**September 1st 2005 – November 23rd 2007**

_**The world wasn't good enough for you anways**_


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